Five more children abducted by Russia return to Ukraine
Five more Ukrainian children have been returned from temporarily occupied territories and from Russia as part of the Ukrainian president's Bring Kids Back UA initiative.
According to Ukrinform, Ukraine's Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said this on Telegram.
"Five Ukrainian children have returned from the temporarily occupied territories and from Russia – and each return is a small, yet at the same time great, victory for Ukraine," he said.
According to Lubinets, this was made possible thanks to the active efforts of the Ombudsman's Office as part of the president's Bring Kids Back UA initiative. The non-governmental organization Save Ukraine also joined the process.
The ombudsman thanked them for their support.
Lubinets also expressed gratitude to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump for humanitarian support for Ukraine's initiatives aimed at returning children.
"Thanks to our persistent work, children aged 4 to 15 are back home," he said.
According to Lubinets, one of the returned children, a seven-year-old boy, had been in the Kherson Baby Home, from where Russian forces deported him during the occupation of the city. His mother fought to have her child returned and appealed to the Ombudsman's Office. Now the closest people in his life are together again.
A similar separation, Lubinets said, was experienced by a four-year-old brother and his six-year-old sister. They were also abducted by Russian forces from the Kherson Baby Home. The children spent four years in deportation and did not see their mother during that time.
"The woman last hugged her children when they were essentially still infants. Today, they are together again," he said.
Lubinets also shared another story involving a nine-year-old boy: the child and his mother ended up in Russia, where the woman died of a serious illness. At first, the boy's grandfather tried to take him back but was unsuccessful.
"Today, the boy will be reunited with another close relative – his uncle," Lubinets said.
"These stories show that a childhood that should have been filled with fairy tales and warmth became a test of endurance. But now it is not only about pain. It is about return. About the first embrace after long years of separation," Lubinets said.
Overall, since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 1,985 children have already been returned, Lubinets said.
"And as long as at least one Ukrainian child remains far from home, we will continue fighting for them," he said.
The Ombudsman's Office is directly involved in a number of processes related to returning children – from communicating with relatives to personally meeting minors at the border.
Lubinets also posted a video on Telegram in which a boy who was returned from deportation today and had not seen his family for almost four years says: "The flag looks good on me!"
Photo credit: Ukraine's Ombudsman