Twenty-three Ukrainian children and teenagers from Russian-held territories have been successfully evacuated to areas under Ukrainian government control, Head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, Andriy Yermak has said.
“Under President Zelenskyy’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative, 23 children and teenagers from the temporarily occupied regions have been rescued,” Yermak reported via Telegram on Thursday. He explained that occupying forces had attempted to compel two sisters, aged 11 and 14, to attend a Russian school, threatening their mother with the loss of her children if she refused. Another teenager, left without guardians after the occupation, was pressured to obtain a Russian passport but refused to attend a Russian school on principle. In another case, a young girl and her mother were once denied permission to leave the occupied area because a relative served in Ukraine’s Armed Forces; afterward, they lived without proper documents and under constant intimidation.
Yermak confirmed that all rescued children are now safe in Ukrainian-controlled territory, where they are receiving medical, psychological, and humanitarian support, as well as assistance restoring their documents. He expressed gratitude to Save Ukraine, the SBU Joint Center for the Coordination of Prisoner of War Searches and Releases, and all partners involved in the operation for their help in bringing the children home.
