Ukraine reunited 31 children who were forcibly deported to russia with their families
Photo: Аndrei310/Depositphotos
The Save Ukraine charitable foundation brought back 31 children abducted by russia from the occupied regions.
They will arrive in Kyiv in a few hours, says Mykola Kuleba, CEO of the foundation.
"The fifth rescue mission is now ending, and 31 children will arrive in Kyiv in a few hours."
With each mission, the number of russia's FSB interrogations, and ordeals that families have to go through to get their children back, increases.
Because of this, only 31 children will return to Ukraine instead of the planned 33.
He stated that when parents and legal representatives of those children came to a russia-controlled camp to pick them up, the russians did not allow them to enter the facility together.
There is data on one and a half million Ukrainian children who, after 2014, ended up in the territory of russia or captured territories.
"This is almost 20% of the children's population – we are talking about Crimea, Donbas, and the occupied territories of other regions. These are children who are hostages, who, unfortunately, cannot return to Ukraine today for various reasons," Kuleba added.
According to the data of the Ombudsman's Office, 360 children were returned to Ukraine as of April 8.
