Ukrainian officials estimate that thousands of children were deported to Russia in the wake of the February 2022 invasion. Many were placed in adoptive families. Ukrainian NGOs say they should come back.
Four children under the age of 16 have been recovered from the Russian-occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts. The youngest is not even a year old. The Save Ukraine charity reported that the children are out of danger and are at one of its centres.
Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, issued an appeal on Thursday for the international community to do more to ensure the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia illegally during the current war. Speaking at a two-day international conference in Riga entitled "Russia's War on Children," Zelenska said: "We have to do more." All countries and all international organizations could help to recover children abducted to Russia, she said. According to Daria Herasymchuk,