As part of the President’s Bring Kids Back UA Initiative, six children were rescued from occupied territories and safely returned to Ukraine. This life-saving mission was made possible through the efforts of our partners at Save Ukraine.
Propaganda filled the classrooms of the school attended by 12-year-old Arsen. Students were shown propaganda films and taught distorted Russian history, while no one ever checked their homework. These schools, set up by Russians in occupied territories, are not designed to educate but to isolate children from their families and indoctrinate them with the so-called «Russian world».
Sixteen-year-old Vitalii avoided joining the «Movement of the First» by skipping school. This saved him from being taken to a nearby city, where his peers were placed on military registers. Luckily, Vitalii and his parents managed to escape to Ukrainian-controlled territory just in time, as he could have been forcibly conscripted at any moment.
Fourteen-year-old Artur’s family could have left the occupied area earlier, but the Russians blocked the issuance of passports for children, issuing them only to adults. This tactic used children as «human shields,» preventing families from leaving. After the occupiers kidnapped Artur’s mother, the danger to the family escalated, forcing him to flee as quickly as possible.
Each of these teenagers endured immense hardship in their own homes under Russian occupation. They lived daily under the threat of being separated from their families for refusing to attend Russian schools or being forcibly placed in orphanages.
Thanks to the coordinated efforts of our team and the unwavering support of our partners, including #WeAreAllUkrainians, Ron Wahid, the Humanity Charitable Foundation, the Ukrainian Network for Children’s Rights, and the Unified Coordination Center, these children now have a chance for a free and happy future.
Each child saved is another step toward the victory of humanity over darkness.