Ukraine brings home over 2,100 kids abducted by Russia
Zelenskyy being debriefed by members of the Bring Kids Back UA team, Oleksandr Bevz and Maksym Maksymov (Photo: @V_Zelenskiy_official)
Ukraine was able to bring home more than 2100 children abducted by Russia, 150 since the start of 2026, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on April 22.
The President announced on his social media accounts that he had received a report from the Bring Kids Back UA team representatives Alexander Bevz and Maksym Maksymov regarding the initiative’s progress.
“Overall, since the launch of Bring Kids Back UA, more than 2,100 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia have been returned home. Of these, 150 have been returned since the beginning of this year,” he stated.
Zelenskyy discussed international support efforts with the Bring Kids Back UA team.
The President emphasized that, recently, and for the first time, the UN has classified the deportation and forced displacement of Ukrainian children as a crime against humanity.
Zelenskyy also announced that Ukraine is preparing for a ministerial-level meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children in Brussels on May 11.
“We expect broad representation, concrete decisions, and practical support from partners,” he added.
In December 2025, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine had a list of about 500 abducted children and their addresses within Russia.
That same month, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding that Russia ensure the immediate, safe, and unconditional return of all Ukrainian children who had been forcibly transferred or deported.
In June, a team of researchers from Yale University determined that Russia may be holding approximately 35 thousand missing Ukrainian children. Some of them have been adopted by Russian families, while others have been transferred to military camps or placed in boarding schools.
Ukraine has confirmed the illegal deportation of more than 19 thousand children to Russia. The aggressor country, as usual, denied this information, and claimed that it is a matter of only “hundreds” of children.
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