Ukraine returns several children from TOT

Among those rescued:

• 13-year-old Olena, who was forced to attend a Russian school during the occupation. Instead of the sixth grade, she was forcibly enrolled in the third grade and forbidden to speak Ukrainian. When Olena and her father tried to leave on their own, the husband was detained, beaten, and accused of violence — simply because he was raising his daughter alone.

• 5-year-old Nazar, who was taken to the Russian Federation against the will of his mother and the boy himself. To pick up his son, his mother had to overcome a long journey and many trials. Today, Nazar is again with his mother — smiling, playing and, it seems, feeling calm for the first time in a long time.

• 17-year-old Viktor, who could no longer withstand the pressure of the occupation reality. Russian symbols, propaganda, the ban on being himself — all this gradually killed his faith in the future. The guy closed in on himself, fell into depression. Now he is undergoing psychological rehabilitation.

• 7-year-old Serhiy, whose father fell into the hands of the military in the occupied territory: he was detained at a checkpoint, beaten and interrogated for more than two hours. After that, the family realized that staying meant risking their lives — and above all, the life of their child, who was soon to go to school. During the escape, already in safe territory, Serhiy leaned over to his mother and whispered: “Mom, is Ukraine no longer a secret now?”

These children have gone through fear, pressure, humiliation — and today they are finally safe. They can be children again, breathe freely, and feel loved by their loved ones. They are being helped to adapt, to get documents, to receive psychological support, to reconnect with normal life.

We thank our partners Save Ukraine, WeAreAllUkrainians, Humanity Foundation, and the Joint Center for Coordination of the Search and Release of Prisoners of War and Illegally Detained Persons.

To learn more about Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children, watch the documentary "Damaged Childhood," created by Ukrainian independent media and video production company Online.UA.