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Bringing Ukrainian children back home

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been unlawfully taken. The international community is uniting to return them.

This information is also available in: Ukrainian | українська | Russian | русский

Background

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, more than 20,500 Ukrainian children have been unlawfully deported and forcibly transferred to Russia and the temporarily occupied territories. Many have been forced to change their identity, placed for adoption and given the aggressor’s citizenship. Despite international efforts, just over 2,100 children have so far been returned to Ukraine. The fate of tens of thousands more Ukrainian children is unknown: they remain trapped, threatened and forced to deny their identities. The European Union is committed to ensuring that every Ukrainian child that was unlawfully taken by Russia returns home.

About the high-level meeting

As announced by President von der Leyen in the 2025 State of the Union Address, the representatives of the European Union, Ukraine, Canada and international partners met on 11 May 2026, in Brussels, for the high-level meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. The participants reaffirmed a shared commitment to:

  • stepping up action for securing the return of every Ukrainian child forcibly transferred or deported by Russia, and
  • ensuring full accountability for these crimes

The European Union will also mobilise additional €50 million to strengthen Ukraine’s child protection system and support the efforts to deliver on the commitments made at the high-level meeting.

High-Level Meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children Press conference

Commitments made at the high-level meeting

The participants have agreed on a set of concrete measures:

Strengthen tracing verification and monitoring

Expand partnerships and strengthen coordination on the ground building on Ukraine’s Pilot Tracing Mechanism.

Support Ukrainian return efforts

Provide additional technical, financial and institutional support to Ukrainian authorities and civil society organisations.

Boost the diplomatic track

Strengthen the engagement with the United Nations and international partners, while promoting existing mediation mechanism and support formal and informal channels for returns.

Support return, protection and reintegration

Expand the support for the reintegration of children through early childhood education and care and strengthening family- and community-based care.

Ensure accountability

Step up support for investigations and legal proceedings, strengthen Ukraine’s investigative capacity, support child-friendly justice and assure access to compensation.

Step up coordinated sanctions

Adopt further coordinated sanctions and targeted listings against those who are responsible, complicit or involved in the deportation, forcible transfer, "re-education" and militarisation of Ukrainian children.

After the Rain: Putin’s Stolen Children Come Home

After the Rain: Putin’s Stolen Children Come Home is a 2024/2025 documentary directed by Sarah McCarthy about two Ukrainian children, Veronika and Sasha, who were illegally deported to Russia and later reunited with their families. 

The film looks at their recovery at an animal therapy retreat in Estonia and highlights the psychological trauma caused by Russia's forced transfer of thousands of children. 

© Sarah McCarthy, 2024

What the EU has already done for Ukrainian children

Supporting Ukrainian children as one of the most vulnerable groups has been a key part of the EU’s assistance to Ukraine, including

  • €100 million dedicated to support safe access to education

  • more than 380 school buses donated

  • 1.5 million textbooks delivered 

  • €65 million provided for school meals

In EU Member States, the EU is also funding projects through civil society partners and UN agencies that benefit Ukrainian refugee children, promoting social inclusion, education and mental health.

The EU has imposed hard-hitting sanctions on more than 60 individuals complicit in the forced deportation, transfer, indoctrination and re-education of Ukrainian children.

The EU has provided €12 million through UNICEF to the 'Better Care' reform aiming at deinstitutionalisation of care of children, establishment of family- and community-based care solutions and access to trauma-informed care for children.

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