October 5, 2026
More than 50 countries vow at Toronto summit to save Ukrainian kids from Russia
TORONTO — More than 50 countries signed a pledge Tuesday at a conference in Toronto to boost their efforts to return Ukrainians from Russian captivity — including an estimated 20,000 children.
“We have pledged to find Ukrainians who have been taken from their homes. We have pledged to bring them back, knowing that it can be dangerous, complex, difficult, but above all necessary,” Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said at the conference on Tuesday.
In 2024, Canada and Ukraine jointly launched an international coalition of nations committed to finding and returning Ukrainian children abducted by Russia since it began its full-scale invasion in 2022.
That work has since expanded to include efforts to return adult civilians and prisoners of war taken by Russia since its 2014 seizure of Crimea.
Anand co-hosted the conference in Toronto this week with Ukraine and Norway focused on marshalling efforts to return abducted Ukrainians. She said the conference included representatives from 83 countries and international organizations such as the Council of Europe.