13 more children returned to Ukraine from temporarily occupied territory

Another 13 children — seven girls and six boys — were returned to Ukraine from the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region.

This was reported by the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin.

The children range in age from one year 8 months to 17 years. Among them is a 14-year-old boy who was forced by the Russians to go to a Russian school and threatened to separate him from his family. At school, he was forced to learn the Russian version of “history” and sing the Russian national anthem.

He was also threatened with being registered with social services for any manifestation of Ukrainian stance. Now he and the other children are safe in Ukraine, they are provided with psychological support, assistance with documents, and safe shelter.

In total, 170 children have already been returned from the temporarily occupied part of the Kherson region since the beginning of 2026.

• According to “Bring Kids Back UA”, to date, 2 495 children have been returned from the occupation to Ukraine, while another 1.6 million remain under the control of the Russian Federation. These children have either been deported, forcibly relocated to the Russian Federation, or are in temporarily occupied territory.
• In total, Ukraine has 20 610 records of possible deportation and forcible relocation of children by Russia.

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