Ukraine returns seven children from Russian-occupied territories

Seven additional children who had been residing in temporarily occupied regions have been repatriated to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Mykola Kuleba, the head of the charity organization Save Ukraine, announced this on Facebook.

"On July 24, 2024, thanks to the joint efforts of BringKidsBackUA and Save Ukraine, seven Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories returned to Ukraine," he wrote.

He said that one of the children in the group is a 12-year-old girl whose parents are in the Ukrainian military. They have been trying to find a way to bring their daughter out of the area because the children of soldiers in the occupied territories are closely monitored.

It was also possible for two brothers, aged 15 and 19, to be taken. Federal Security Service of Russia detained their parents a month ago, and their whereabouts are currently unknown. Russian special services also interrogated the older brother. Rescuing the boys from the occupied territory was challenging, but Kuleba highlighted that they were now safe and under the temporary care of their godmother.

Furthermore, an 18-year-old boy and a 19-year-old girl from the Kherson region, who their adoptive parents abandoned during the occupation, have been brought to the territory under Ukrainian control. Kuleba stated that they had received threats due to their pro-Ukrainian stance. He also announced that Ukraine would offer them the necessary assistance to start a new life.

Ukraine also reunited a 14-year-old boy who was unable to leave the temporarily occupied territory due to the destruction caused by Russian troops. As Kuleba pointed out, he could finally see his mother again after being separated for two years.

Kuleba reported that the seventh freed child is a teenage boy whose mother is still under occupation.

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As Rubryka reported, last week, 12 small citizens were returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine from the occupation. The children, together with their relatives, lived in the temporarily occupied regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.

Moreover, at a meeting of advisers on national security and foreign policy, representatives of Canada proposed to create a coalition of countries that would facilitate the return of Ukrainian children deported by the aggressor country.

Japan joined the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.

Also, the United States of America officially became a member state of the coalition, which advocates for the safe return to Ukraine of children illegally deported and displaced by the Russian Federation during the war.

Currently, a total of 40 countries have joined the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.