New UN report: the issue of Ukrainian children requires not only their return, but an international legal response

The UN Secretary-General has released the annual report “Children and Armed Conflict” for 2025, which, among other findings, confirms that Ukrainian children continue to suffer a wide range of grave violations committed by the Russian Federation. The report documents in detail the situation of Ukrainian children who have been deported, forcibly transferred, or remain in the temporarily occupied territories.

The Secretary-General voices grave concern that the whereabouts of many transferred and deported children remain unknown, and calls on the Russian Federation to cooperate with the UN and other actors to secure their return. He further stresses the inadmissibility of any changes to the legal status of these children — including their nationality and family relationships — among them children born in the temporarily occupied territories.

“I am gravely concerned about the whereabouts of transferred or deported children whose whereabouts remain unknown. I urge the Russian Federation to continue to cooperate with relevant actors, including the United Nations, for the return of Ukrainian children. I further urge the Russian Federation to ensure that no changes are made to the legal status, including nationality and family relationships, of Ukrainian children, including children born in territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation. I urge all parties to uphold the principle of the best interests of the child,” the report states.

Maksym Maksymov, Head of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, stresses that the report is yet another confirmation that the issue of Ukrainian children has long moved beyond the humanitarian dimension: 

“This is not only about bringing children home, but about protecting their rights, their safety, and their identity — and that requires a comprehensive international legal response. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children remain under Russia’s control and fall victim to its crimes every day. Their return is a condition of a genuine peace and, at the same time, a test of the whole world’s humanity. If the world turns a blind eye to this, it effectively legitimises such crimes,” he says.

The report also documents a wide range of grave violations against Ukrainian children resulting from Russia’s aggression. Among those verified by the UN are the killing and maiming of children — the vast majority caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects, including long-range strikes reaching populated areas far from the front line. The report separately notes attacks on schools and hospitals, sexual violence against girls, the use of children as informants, and the denial of humanitarian access — primarily through strikes on energy infrastructure that cut children off from electricity, heating, and water.

For the fourth consecutive year, the armed forces of the Russian Federation are included in the list of parties that commit grave violations against children in Ukraine, for the killing and maiming of children, as well as attacks on schools and hospitals.