Ukraine has brought back 217 children from occupied part of Kherson Oblast in 2024

Ukraine has brought back 217 children from the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast to the Ukrainian-controlled territory in the first ten months of 2024.

Source: Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration

Details: "Since the beginning of 2024, 212 children from [the temporarily occupied part of] Kherson Oblast have been brought back to the Ukrainian-controlled territory," Prokudin stated.

Most recently, seven children – three boys and four girls aged 7 to 17 – have been evacuated from the Russian-occupied territory.

All of them are now in a safe place and are receiving the necessary assistance, Prokudin added.

Background:

• At the end of August 2024, four families with children were evacuated from the temporarily occupied part of Kherson Oblast. Earlier that month, families with six children were also brought home from the Russian-controlled areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
• The children's parents said that the Russians forced their children to attend schools where the Russian curriculum had been imposed. Additionally, the children were forced to celebrate Russian holidays.
• The adults faced constant pressure, as armed Russian military personnel frequently carried out groundless searches in their homes because they had no Russian documents.

Previously:

• Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner, reported that Russia abducts Ukrainian children and encourages its citizens to "adopt" them.
• The commissioner stated that the case involving Russian politician Maria Lvova-Belova is the first, but not the only instance of a Ukrainian child being abducted for "adoption". Lvova-Belova "adopted" a Ukrainian child taken from Mariupol, a city that had been completely destroyed by Russian forces.

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