Kidnapped: Stories of Children Who Returned to Ukraine After Being Illegally Taken to Russia

After the beginning of the full-scale war, russia began forcibly taking Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories, separating them from their families. In most cases, this was done under the guise of health retreats or education, and some children were falsely labeled as orphans by russians to sever their ties with their homeland and loved ones completely. One of the first managed to save little Ilya. It happened on April 24, 2022. Many children who were abducted in this way remain in russia.

The children who endured this horrifying ordeal and managed to return to Ukraine have demonstrated incredible inner strength and faith that they would one day be reunited with their homeland. Every return is both a small and significant victory over evil and injustice – a symbol of hope and belief that light will surely follow after darkness.