Four children were returned from the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region: a girl and three boys aged seven to 17.
This was reported by the head of the Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin.
A 17-year-old boy sang the Ukrainian anthem in an occupation school, and for this he was publicly humiliated and his family put under pressure. Russian military personnel came to the family to conduct "educational conversations" and intimidate them. Another 17-year-old boy was forced to obtain a Russian passport: he was intimidated that without it he would not receive a school certificate.
Currently, the children are safe and are being provided with the necessary assistance. Prokudin clarified that since the beginning of 2026, 106 children have been returned from the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region.
- The Children of War initiative has officially confirmed that the Russian Federation has deported at least 20 610 Ukrainian children. So far, 2,353 children have been returned.
- The Russian Federation itself says that it has taken away 744 000 children. Ukraine also has evidence that Belarus is participating in the deportation of Ukrainian children.
- The deportation of Ukrainian children is one of Russiaʼs war crimes, for which the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the Russian Childrenʼs Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova.
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