Starving, but in Russian military uniforms: Bring Kids Back UA on Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children

Espreso spoke with Daria Zarivna, head of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, about how Russians abduct Ukrainian children, how parents can protect their children from abduction, and what actions can be taken to rescue them if deportation occurs.

Russia cuts off all information about deported Ukrainian children

When we talk about the abduction of Ukrainian children, what is the scale of the tragedy?

Before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine had approximately 7 million children living within its territory. According to human rights organizations, around 1.6 million children currently remain in temporarily occupied areas. Russia claims to have relocated at least 744,000 Ukrainian children to its territory, most together with their parents. However, Ukraine and international organizations cannot verify or disprove this information, as Russia refuses to provide any details.

Following the issuance of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia completely halted all public communication regarding deported Ukrainian children.

As a result, it is now extremely difficult to determine how many children have died, been separated from their parents since February 2022, or were born after the full-scale invasion began.

Given the massive scale of the crime, isn't this an overwhelming task? Can Ukraine cope with it?

Recently, we discussed the experience of Argentina, where about 500 children were abducted during the dictatorship of 1976–1983. So far, only 132 of them have been identified through DNA testing. In Ukraine’s case, we are dealing with hundreds of thousands of children whose fates remain unknown.

Ukraine urgently needs support. New search technologies, access to intelligence data, cooperation between intelligence agencies, and the involvement of the world’s leading OSINT centers are critical. Every small detail, every minor clue can save a child's life and offer them a future.

The scale of Russia's crime is unprecedented. The world has never faced a tragedy of this magnitude before.

How many specific children abducted by Russia have been identified and how many have been rescued and returned?

Ukraine has officially documented at least 19,546 cases of illegal deportation or forced displacement of children. The real number is much higher, but Russia blocks access to information, making it impossible to fully assess the scale of this crime. 

Thanks to the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, we have already managed to return 1,269 children, 449 over the past year, and 18 children in March this year. 

How Russia abducts Ukrainian children

Describe the methods used to take Ukrainian children to Russian territory

The removal of Ukrainian children is systematic, large-scale, and often involves violence, coercion, or deception by Russian forces.

The most tragic cases occur when children lose their parents due to shelling or shootings, or when parents are persecuted, illegally imprisoned, or forcibly disappeared. In these instances, Russian occupation forces remove the children, either deporting them to Russia or transferring them to Russian-controlled territories.

Many children are also separated from their families during the so-called "filtration" process. This often takes place when families attempt to leave occupied areas. At checkpoints, adults and children are separated: parents are detained for interrogation, while children are sent onward — sometimes to filtration camps, sometimes directly into temporarily occupied areas. There, children are held in groups in so-called "re-education camps," boarding schools, or medical institutions.

In the temporarily occupied territories, disloyalty to the Russian-installed authorities has become another reason for separating children from their parents. Families who refuse to cooperate — by declining to issue Russian documents, participate in so-called elections, or send their children to "rest camps" — are threatened with the loss of parental rights over all their children. Under pressure, parents are often forced to make impossible choices.

Russian authorities frequently promise that children sent to camps will return within three weeks. However, delays are common, and many children have yet to be reunited with their families.

Children are also taken from their relatives. In the Kherson region, 17-year-old Vlad Rudenko and his five brothers and sisters did not go to school during the occupation because their mother tried to hide them. However, when Vlad was home alone, Russian soldiers stormed the house with weapons, ordered him to pack quickly, and forcibly took him and his siblings onto buses bound for Crimea, where they were enrolled in a military college. It was only months later that their mother managed to establish contact, locate her children, and bring them back. The family underwent a week-long filtration process before being allowed to return home.

Children are also removed from orphanages and boarding schools. From the Kherson orphanage alone, Russia abducted 48 children, many of whom have already been adopted by Russian families.

Is there any way for relatives in the occupied territories to minimize the risk of child abduction? 

Unfortunately, there is no absolutely safe model of behavior in the temporarily occupied territories that can guarantee a child's protection. However, we can offer several important recommendations for parents.

First and foremost, the best way to protect children is to leave the temporarily occupied territories.

Secondly, parents should not wait for Ukrainian documents to expire. Expired documents complicate the process of returning to Ukraine but do not make it impossible. Families in this situation should contact the Bring Kids Back UA initiative or our partners from the Ukrainian Child Rights Network or Save Ukraine. We can help organize an individual evacuation route.

It is also crucial for parents to know that Ukraine does not prosecute parents or children for obtaining Russian-issued documents. Ukraine does not recognize these documents, and if they were obtained for safety reasons under occupation, there is no legal liability.

Additionally, we strongly advise families with teenage children — particularly boys subject to military registration and conscription under Russian occupation laws — to plan their departure in advance. Starting in 2025, conscription campaigns are expected to apply to all residents in occupied territories.

Finally, we remind families that Ukraine does not provide for mobilization under the age of 25. Any claims suggesting otherwise are part of Russian propaganda.

How Russia exerts psychological pressure on abducted children

What do children tell you about the conditions of detention in Russia? I know that they are being brainwashed no less than POWs. 

You are right, the frantic indoctrination of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation is very harmful for our future generation. After all, children, especially those of a young age, are not able to distinguish between lies and truth, cannot critically analyze the information that adults constantly tell them: at school, in the theater, on TV and TikTok. 

Ukrainian children have been exposed to Russian propaganda since the first days of the occupation. The ban on speaking Ukrainian, even in private, has a huge impact. They are taught to be ashamed and apologize for using Ukrainian words. Secondly, Russian education standards are permeated with Russian narratives, Russian history is taught in a distorted form in which Ukraine did not exist and at the same time it is an eternal enemy. Teachers teach children to honor the “heroes of the special military operation” as “liberators” and not as murderers of their Ukrainian people. 

Children from occupied territories are regularly sent to so-called "re-education camps," where they are forced to wear military uniforms, chant Russian slogans, participate in parades, meet with Russian soldiers, and serve as propaganda tools.

One of the returned children, Artem, described how he was taken from Kupiansk and transported to an orphanage in the occupied Luhansk region. There, he and other children slept on beds without mattresses, often went hungry, and received no proper education. Instead, they were forced to sing the Russian national anthem every morning, wear military-style uniforms, and attend propaganda events glorifying the war, instead of regular lessons.

This policy is heavily funded from Russia’s federal budget and is part of a long-term strategy to cultivate loyalty to the regime and build up the mobilization potential of the Russian army for years to come.

What thoughts do they return from Russia with? 

Some people are afraid, others are completely confused. Psychologists talk about excessive obedience and readiness to follow the orders of adults. But, of course, children also return with the hope of change. That is why our work does not end with their return. We are also working on their reintegration, providing psychological support, restoring ties with their families, with Ukraine and with their own identity. 

How can parents search for their children? Are there any mechanisms?

It should be understood that it is more difficult to search for children on your own than to contact the relevant structures that deal with the return of families to the government-controlled territories of Ukraine. If a child goes missing or is forcibly taken without the knowledge of adults, it is very important not to hesitate and to seek help immediately. All contacts are available on the official websites of Bring Kids Back UA, the Ombudsman's Office, Save Ukraine and the Ukrainian Child Rights Network.

There have been cases where children's names and surnames have been changed, so how can we find them? 

This is the case I was referring to when I mentioned the Kherson orphanage. When Russia occupied Kherson, Marharyta was only 10 months old. She and her brother were living in the orphanage when Russian soldiers arrived, separated them, and took the girl to a Russian family in Moscow without informing any of her relatives. A Russian official later changed her name and date of birth — Marharyta Prokopenko became Marina Mironova, listed as the daughter of State Duma deputy Sergei Mironov. Today, no one knows where Marharyta really is. According to the latest information available, her brother was transferred to occupied Crimea, but what happened to him after that remains unknown.

There are thousands of similar cases. We do not know in which regions of Russia our children are now, which families they have been placed with, or under what names they are living. The Russian Federation has systematically changed its own legislation to simplify the process of granting abducted Ukrainian children Russian citizenship without the consent of their parents or legal guardians. It has also enabled the "adoption" of these children — a gross violation of international law.

What other difficulties arise when searching for abducted children in Russia? What are the main difficulties in the process of returning children? 

There is, for example, a psychological component. Russian propaganda convinces children that Ukraine has abandoned them, that Russia is their home, that no one will come for them. When a child hears this every day, this lie somehow begins to seem true. 

Children are not a topic for compromise

What are the next steps and prospects in your work? How can international pressure on Russia be increased? What legal and diplomatic mechanisms should be activated? 

The international community is a critical force that helps us bring Ukrainian children home and put pressure on Russia. Today, 41 countries have already joined the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, which Ukraine co-chaired with Canada. This is a diplomatic platform that allows us to join forces, increase pressure on Russia and build new mechanisms of cooperation. The Coalition is also involved in supporting reintegration projects. 

By the way, some states play a key role in mediation, including Qatar, the Vatican, and South Africa. There is also an international expert group, Bring Kids Back UA. 

Sanctions, international isolation, and legal decisions should be used separately - all of which should force Russia to stop the practice of abducting children and begin to cooperate in their return. 

Now there is a lot of talk about the conditions under which a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia can be concluded. What will happen to the issue of deported children in this situation? 

Ukraine's position is absolutely clear: the issue of deported and forcibly displaced children cannot be the subject of political bargaining. This is a humanitarian priority that must be addressed in a separate track, and only in this way. We cannot talk about any fair or sustainable peace agreement as long as Ukrainian children remain under Russian control. 

During recent international negotiations, in particular in Saudi Arabia in March 2025, the Ukrainian delegation clearly identified this issue as one of the key conditions for even a potential ceasefire. This was also echoed in the conversation between Presidents Zelenskyy and Trump: we will not allow the issue of children to disappear from the agenda. Because children are not a topic for compromise.