For over four years of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has continued to commit crimes against humanity. Among them is the abduction of children. Russia has deported them since 2014, but with the full-scale invasion, the scale increased.
How Russia Takes Ukrainian Children
Russians take Ukrainian children from occupied territories and separate them from their families. Russia works to destroy their Ukrainian identity. They often change the children’s names, force them to obtain Russian passports, and illegally adopt them. Later, they force them to fight against Ukraine. Russians test military propaganda on kids and prepare them for military service. The ultimate goal in such cases is full assimilation. They abduct a child at an early age, cut them off from the Ukrainian space, and force them to believe that the only correct reality is Russian.
Russia violates international law by blocking access for international monitoring missions. It does not disclose information about where the unlawfully deported children are staying.
Children Continue to Return Home
As of February 24, 2026, Ukraine has managed to return 2,003 children since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Kseniia Korniienko, senior lawyer at the Regional Center for Human Rights, reported this. According to the data, during the fourth year of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, Ukraine managed to return 804 children. This makes up 40% of the total number returned since February 24, 2022. Kseniia Korniienko emphasizes that such statistics show that efforts to return children intensified over the past year.
Children Harmed by Russia: What the Databases Say
According to Ukraine’s national database “Children of War,” over four years of the full-scale invasion, Russia has forcibly taken about 20,000 children from Ukraine. It is impossible to determine the exact number because of hostilities and the temporary occupation of Ukrainian territories.
According to the data, over the past four years Ukraine has managed to find nearly 51,000 missing children. Among those who have not yet been located are 2,294 minors. Because of Russia’s war, 685 children have died and another 2,373 children have been injured. There are 23 known cases in which children suffered from sexual violence. It is worth noting that these are not all cases. Officials form the databases from received testimonies, and not all illegal actions against children become public. There is not enough information about what is happening in the occupied territories. According to Bring Kids Back UA, 1.6 million Ukrainian children are currently under Russia’s control.
Who Is Included in the Statistics?
Lawyer Kseniia Korniienko explains which cases of child abduction fall into the official statistics:
“This statistics includes children illegally deported to the territory of the Russian Federation, forcibly transferred within temporarily occupied territories, and children who were under occupation but were not physically transferred. At the same time, the absolute majority of returned children are those who were in temporarily occupied territories.”
How the Abducted Children Are Returned
The return process is now coordinated within the framework of the presidential initiative Bring Kids Back UA in cooperation with civil society organizations. Among them are Save Ukraine and the Ukrainian Child Rights Network. Kseniia Korniienko says that parents or other legal representatives of the child are often involved in the return process.
International publicity plays a significant role in the return process. According to the lawyer, international attention to the issue of deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children remains high. An important tool in this process is the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. As of the end of 2025, 46 states had joined it.
Kseniia Korniienko emphasized one of the most important results of international publicity on this issue. This is the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly dedicated to the return of Ukrainian children. They adopted it on December 3, 2025. The document states that Russia must be held accountable for illegal actions against Ukrainian children. The resolution contains a clear demand for Russia to immediately and unconditionally return all Ukrainian children and to stop illegal deportation, forced transfer, unlawful adoption, and indoctrination. Twelve countries, including Russia, spoke against the return of Ukrainian children.
“[The General Assembly is] Deploring the practice of forcible transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children, and the separation of families and of children from legal guardians, and any subsequent forced change of children’s personal status, their citizenship, adoption or placement in foster families, and efforts to indoctrinate them, in clear violation of international law,” the resolution states.
Speaking about the presidential initiative Bring Kids Back UA, Kseniia Korniienko says that it works not only on practical mechanisms for returning children, but also actively engages in international advocacy. In particular, it regularly holds events with the participation of Ukraine’s top leadership, representatives of foreign governments, and international organizations.
The Issue Remains in Focus
The deportation of Ukrainian children is not only a political issue. First and foremost, it concerns the protection of basic human rights, which Russia violates.
“In 2026, the issue of abducted Ukrainian children remains in the focus of international attention,” says Kseniia Korniienko.
According to her, one of the key events that drew attention to the issue was the panel discussion “War on Children: Russia’s Strategy to Kill Ukraine’s Future.” It took place on the sidelines of the 56th World Economic Forum. They also discussed Russia’s illegal removal of Ukrainian children at the Munich Security Conference. The conference dedicated a separate panel to the topic.
Summary
Over four years of the full-scale war, Russia continues its systematic practice of illegal deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children. In this way, it seeks to destroy their Ukrainian identity. According to Ukrainian data, during the fourth year of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine managed to return 804 children home. Therefore, efforts have intensified.
At the same time, about 20,000 children were forcibly taken, 1.6 million remain under Russia’s control, and thousands are still considered missing. The issue receives international publicity. The result should be the return of all children taken from Ukraine and a decision to punish Russia under international law.
Although the process remains complex and access to information from occupied territories is closed, the issue of abducted Ukrainian children remains at the center of international attention. The return of every child is a moral duty of the international community. It defines the future of Ukraine and of the civilized world.
