Five more Ukrainian children abducted by Russia have been brought back home – photo
Five more Ukrainian children have been brought back to Ukraine under Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Bring Kids Back UA initiative after Russia's illegal deportation or forcible transfer.
Source: Bring Kids Back UA
Details: Three of the children, aged 4, 6 and 7, were residents of an orphanage in Kherson Oblast.
In autumn 2022, during the temporary occupation of Kherson, Russian troops removed them from the institution despite staff's attempts to hide the children. They were later forcibly transferred to Russian-occupied Crimea and placed in the Simferopol orphanage Yalynka.
Maksym Maksymov, the head of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, thanked international partners who helped secure the children's return and US First Lady Melania Trump for supporting these humanitarian efforts.
The initiative also stressed that under international law, Russia must bring back Ukrainian children who were illegally deported or forcibly transferred from Ukraine, and that there will not be "exchanges" of children.
For reference: Bring Kids Back UA is an initiative by the president of Ukraine which coordinates the work of state bodies, civil society organisations and international partners to find and bring back Ukrainian children. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, 1,990 children have been brought back to Ukraine.
Previously: On 12 February, the White House reported that US First Lady Melania Trump assisted in bringing back kidnapped Ukrainian children to their families for the third time.
Background:
- In August, Melania Trump raised the issue of Ukrainian children in Russia in a personal letter to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. US President Donald Trump had personally delivered the letter to Putin during their talks in Alaska.
- Afterwards, the US first lady said she has an "open channel of communication" with Putin regarding the return of abducted Ukrainian children.
- On 4 December, US First Lady Melania Trump said that seven abducted Ukrainian children were brought back to their families thanks to "bridge-building" by Ukraine and Russia.
- It was due to the forcible transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine that the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023.
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