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15 Children Returned to Ukraine in Latest Bring Kids Back UA Operation
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![Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko]( "Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko")
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Fifteen children have been successfully evacuated from temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine under the presidential initiative Bring Kids Back UA, as reported by the organization on Facebook on June 23.
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Among those rescued are 18-year-old Mykyta, who was hiding to avoid forced mobilization into the Russian military; 17-year-old Ivan, whose family faced continuous threats from occupation authorities; and 13-year-old Dariia, whom authorities attempted to separate from her parents to place in an orphanage.
As of June 9, 2026, the Bring Kids Back UA initiative has successfully returned 2,232 children to Ukraine from Russia and temporarily occupied territories.
"They are currently undergoing reintegration in 'Hope and Recovery' centers, where they receive psychological support, assistance with documents, safe shelter, and the care necessary for a new beginning," the initiative stated.
The full scale of the displacement remains difficult to determine due to the ongoing occupation. Daria Gerasymchuk, the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights, previously reported that as of late March 2023, Ukrainian authorities had confirmed more than 19,500 children had been taken from temporarily occupied territories to Russia.
International condemnation of the practice has been widespread since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On April 5, 2023, a total of 49 countries issued a joint statement condemning Russia for organizing a UN Security Council meeting intended to fabricate legal justifications for taking Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories.
The United Kingdom blocked the broadcast of Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova's speech on UN platforms, calling for her to answer for her actions before the court in The Hague.
The process of returning these children continues to face severe administrative hurdles. The Office of the Prosecutor General indicated that there is currently no single, transparent algorithm or mechanism that allows for the return of deported Ukrainian children from Russia.
Previously, five more children, including four who had been deprived of parental care, were successfully returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory from the temporarily occupied part of the Kherson region.
Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, reported that the children, aged 9 to 16, along with one young adult, had endured severe conditions under occupation before their rescue.
Among them was a nine-year-old boy who had lived under constant shelling for four years, and a young girl who had faced extreme deprivation and threats on the streets of her town. Following their extraction, all of the children were safely placed in "Hope and Recovery" centers to receive psychological support, housing, and documentation assistance.
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