Ukraine announces return of 23 children and young adults from occupied territory
Ukrainian organizations say 23 people left Russian-occupied areas over the past week and are receiving support after their return.
Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative announced on October 19 that 23 people had been brought from Russian-occupied territory to Ukrainian-controlled areas over the preceding week. The Kyiv Independent described the group as children; Hromadske reported that it also included young adults. Both accounts attribute the return to Ukrainian organizations involved in the effort.
Mykola Kuleba, founder of the humanitarian organization Save Ukraine, said his group carried out the effort with partners under Bring Kids Back UA, according to Hromadske. Save Ukraine said the returnees are receiving psychological support, rehabilitation, help with documents and housing at its Hope and Recovery centers. Bring Kids Back UA also said the children were receiving psychological support and help restoring Ukrainian documents, The Kyiv Independent reported.
Accounts of life under occupation
Among those brought back was nine-year-old Stefan. Kuleba said teachers at his school under Russian occupation made him practice throwing grenades and assembling and disassembling assault rifles, Hromadske reported. After he drew a Ukrainian flag, Russian Federal Security Service officers summoned and threatened his mother, according to Kuleba’s account. The accounts of what happened at the school and to his mother have not been independently verified.
The organizations also described the return of 13-year-old Polina. According to Save Ukraine’s account reported by Hromadske, a Russian combat drone pursued her near her home; she escaped by hiding in thorny bushes and afterward was afraid to go outside. The Kyiv Independent reported that Bring Kids Back UA said Russian troops raided her home and destroyed communication devices to restrict access to information.
Hromadske identified 20-year-old Mariana as another person helped to leave. Kuleba said armed Russian soldiers made her walk home under escort for a document check and subjected her to harsh questioning at checkpoints. He also said teachers brought in by the Russian authorities told pupils that Ukraine did not exist. Her inclusion underscores the difference between the two reports’ descriptions of the group’s ages; neither gives a full age breakdown.
The wider effort to bring Ukrainians home
Save Ukraine says it has helped more than 1,800 children return to Ukrainian government-controlled territory since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Hromadske reported. Kuleba said thousands of children remain in Russian-occupied areas. Separately, The Kyiv Independent reported that Ukraine’s Justice Ministry had confirmed 20,610 cases of deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children as of September 2026. That ministry figure concerns deportations and forced transfers, rather than the number still living under occupation.
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Sources and context
- Ukraine brings home 23 children from Russian occupationThe Kyiv Independent
- Ukraine brings 23 children and young adults home from Russian-occupied territoriesHromadske
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.