Ukraine secures return of 8 children from Russian-occupied territories

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Ukraine successfully brought back eight children who had been forcibly taken to Russian-occupied territory, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights, reported on Feb. 14.

"Among the returned children are siblings," Lubinets wrote. "All the children were separated from their families due to the war and occupation, and some lost their parents. In general, we managed to return children from Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblast."

Since February 2022, at least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted from Russian-occupied territories and sent to other Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine or to Russia itself, according to a Ukrainian national database, "Children of War."

Lubinets estimated that Russia has unlawfully deported up to 150,000 Ukrainian children, while the Children’s Ombudswoman, Daria Herasymchuk, puts the figure at 200,000–300,000.

Ukrainian children return home on Feb. 14 as part of the Ukrainian President's initiative Bring Kids Back UA. (Dmytro Lubinets / Facebook)

Ukraine considers these abductions a war crime and argues that they meet the U.N.'s legal definition of genocide. Russia often claims it is relocating children to protect them from conflict zones. According to the Ministry of Reintegration, the government has managed to return 388 children so far.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children's Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, citing their involvement in the unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children. Russia dismissed the ICC's decision as "outrageous and unacceptable."

A Yale School of Public Health study published on Dec. 3 detailed Russia's systematic program of deporting and forcibly assimilating Ukrainian children.

Under orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin, children were transported via military aircraft in 2022, reclassified in Russian databases as native-born, and subjected to pro-Russian re-education before being adopted into Russian families. Ukrainian children had been transported to at least 21 regions throughout Russia.