Children from occupied Kherson return home safely, including rescued baby
A group of children has been returned from occupied Kherson to Ukrainian-controlled territory (Photo: GettyImages)
A group of children aged 8 months to 17 years has been returned from occupied Kherson to Ukrainian-controlled territory. Among them were minors whom the Russians tried to deport or strip of parental rights, the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin.
According to Prokudin, the evacuation was carried out under the President of Ukraine’s initiative, Bring Kids Back UA, with support from the Save Ukraine team.
Among the rescued children is an 11-year-old girl whom the Russians attempted to send to an orphanage after her mother served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The mother was illegally deprived of parental rights and faced a criminal case. Also among the children are two brothers, aged 5 and 11, who were repeatedly taken for interrogations and humiliated in front of the other children while their father was tortured.
All of the returned children are now under the care of Ukrainian specialists and are receiving the medical, psychological, and legal support they need to recover from their experiences.
Since the beginning of 2026, through joint efforts by the government and volunteer organizations, 19 children have already been returned from the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson. The process of identifying and evacuating other minors who remain in captivity is ongoing.
In July, US First Lady Melania Trump addressed a letter to Vladimir Putin, urging the protection of Ukrainian children deported to Russia.
This opened a channel of communication with the Kremlin aimed at returning children to Ukraine.
