4 Ukrainian children return home from Russian-occupied territories

Ukraine successfully returned four children from the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast thanks to the "Bring Kids Back UA" initiative as well as "Save Ukraine," Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin announced on Dec. 31.

These include two boys and two girls, aged between 3 and 17. "A true New Year's miracle!" Prokudin said in his statement, adding that "each of them has endured experiences no child should ever face: Russian terror, threats, and interrogations of their relatives."

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."

The Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, estimates 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.

Since the beginning of 2024, at least 246 children native to Kherson Oblast have been returned from Russian occupation, Prokudin said.

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.

Ukraine names pro-Russian collaborators suspected of forcibly deporting Ukrainian children

One suspect was identified by the Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigations Unit in the documentary “Uprooted.”

The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk

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