8 more children — 5 girls and 3 boys — were returned to Ukraine from the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of the Kherson region.
This was reported by the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin.
Children aged 7 to 16 were returned. Among them was a nine-year-old girl who was forced to attend an occupation school where the Ukrainian language was banned. There she was forcibly involved in Russian propaganda movements, forced to sing the Russian national anthem, and write letters to Russian soldiers.
The girl and the other rescued children are now safe. They are undergoing reintegration and receiving psychological support, as well as assistance with document restoration.
Since the beginning of 2026, 243 children have been returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine from the Kherson region.
- The deportation of Ukrainian children is one of Russiaʼs war crimes, for which the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the Russian Childrenʼs Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova.
- Ukraine has officially confirmed that Russia has abducted 20 600 Ukrainian children. The Russian Federation states that it has taken away 744 000 children.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.