Five More Kids Rescued from Russian Occupation as Assimilation Tactics Continue

As part of the President of Ukraine's Bring Kids Back UA initiative, five more Ukrainian children have been returned from Russian-occupied territories as of January 28.

Among those rescued is the daughter of a servicewoman recently freed from captivity. To protect the mother while she remained detained, the father and daughter carefully concealed their plans to escape to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Another child, a young boy, was also brought back after being forced to obtain a Russian passport and enroll in a Russian school. Despite these pressures, he secretly continued his Ukrainian education online.

The rescue mission was organized by the Office of the Ombudsman, with support from international partners, including the State of Qatar.

In the summer of 2024, over 3,000 children were forcibly deported from Russian-occupied areas of the Kherson region under the pretense of “vacation” programs, according to Ukraine’s Ombudsman for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets.

The children were reportedly sent to camps in remote Russian regions, where they underwent “re-education” through activities such as defense training, sports competitions, and workshops promoting forced assimilation and militarization. Lubinets noted these actions aim to erase Ukrainian identity by imposing Russian culture, language, and history, raising concerns that the children may be manipulated into future military roles.