Suzanne

Five Ukrainian siblings had to record videos asking to go home together. Russian authorities had told their aunt she could take only three of them. The siblings were among 11 children taken to Russia from the Nadiia care centre in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region in 2022. As @Graty_me reports, the office of Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, knew about the children by January 2023. All five were on the initial list of children to be returned that Ukraine handed to Russia in Istanbul in June 2025. They finally came home with their aunt in July, after sustained efforts by the children, their family and Ukraine’s Ombudsman’s Office, with Qatar’s mediation. The report also traces the story of five other siblings whose mother found them in Russia and stayed there with them. Another girl from Nadiia is still in Russia. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine found that Russia’s unjustifiable delays in returning Ukrainian children amount to a war crime. Russia must immediately, safely and unconditionally return every Ukrainian child it has unlawfully deported or forcibly transferred. Thanks Tetiana Kozak and @Graty_me for documenting these children’s stories. graty.me/diti-nadi%D1%97-vih… #BringKidsBack