Ukraine’s Save Ukraine group returned 23 people from Russian-occupied territory in the week before Oct. 19, while a government initiative described accounts of pressure on children and families under occupation.
Bring Kids Back UA said partners supported the operation. Its announcement called the returnees children and teenagers but included Mariana, 20, on its list. The initiative said people who returned were receiving psychological care, help with paperwork and shelter at Hope and Recovery centers. It gave no precise dates or locations for the operation.
The initiative said 13-year-old Polina survived a Russian combat drone attack near her home and later became afraid to go outside. It also reported that armed Russian soldiers searched her home and that occupation forces destroyed household antennas to limit access to information.
Bring Kids Back UA said 9-year-old Stefan was made to throw grenades and learn to assemble and disassemble weapons at an occupied school. After he drew a blue-and-yellow flag, the initiative said, Federal Security Service (FSB) officers summoned his mother, threatened the family and demanded that she raise him with Russian propaganda.
The announcement said armed Russian soldiers escorted Mariana home to check her documents and repeatedly questioned her at checkpoints. The initiative did not provide details about the other returnees.
Separately, Ukraine’s Justice Ministry said Aug. 14 that it had verified 20,610 cases of deportation or forced displacement of Ukrainian children. The ministry said the figure was not final and that each case required individual verification.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in 2023 for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, over alleged unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. The warrants are not convictions.
