Eight more Ukrainian children brought back from Crimea

Daria Zarivna, an advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and operational director of President Volodymyr Zelensky's Bring Kids Back UA initiative, announced this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.

Zarivna said that the story of these children is an example of the systematic cruelty of the occupiers. The children were forcibly taken from their mother while she was in the hospital, and she was coerced under threats into placing them in an orphanage.

"At the institution, the children were subjected to bullying, forced to participate in propaganda events and militarized groups where they were taught how to handle weapons and prepared for war. All of this is part of Russia's policy aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity," she said.

She also thanked NGO Save Ukraine for facilitating this rescue mission and for its relentless work for the sake of Ukrainian children.

Earlier reports said that 1,037 illegally deported Ukrainian children had been returned from Russia, including more than 450 in the past year.