Returning forcibly deported children to Ukraine

Estimates vary, but between 20,000 and 35,000 Ukrainian children are thought to have been forcibly transferred to Russian occupied territory or to Russia itself since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Many of those children have come from the care system within the occupied regions of Ukraine. The majority are not orphans but have relatives living in Ukraine. Others have been separated from their families during ‘filtration’ operations conducted by the Russian authorities in occupied Ukraine. In some cases, forcibly transferred children have been adopted by Russian families and given Russian citizenship. Others have been sent to re-education camps and many have been forced to undertake military training. Several thousand children are reported to have been transferred with the assistance of Belarus.

The forcible transfer and re-education of children is a war crime under the Rome Statute. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Putin and Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their alleged role in the forced transfer of Ukrainian children from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions and for facilitating their forced adoption in Russia. Sanctions have also been imposed by the US, UK, EU and other partners and allies as a direct result of Russia’s actions. Russia has attempted to portray its actions as humanitarian.

According to the Ombudsman of Ukraine, as of early 2025, 1,183 children had been returned from occupied territory and Russia (PDF). Many of those returns have been facilitated with the assistance of Qatar. The UN says that it is unable to independently verify these numbers (PDF).

The return of Ukrainian children is a priority for the Ukrainian government (PDF) and in 2023 established a strategic action plan: Bring Kids Back UA. President Zelenskyy has said that the issue must be part of any negotiations on a peace settlement and in April 2025, the Ukrainian government launched the international campaign, #ChildrenAreNonNegotiable, as part of efforts to highlight the issue.

The UK Government provides funding to the Bring Kids Back UA campaign and is a member of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.