After being evacuated to Russia from seized territories, dozens of youngsters have been reunited with their families in Ukraine, according to a charity.
After a protracted effort to return them to Ukraine from Russia, where they had been abducted from seized territories during the war, more than 30 children have this week been reunited with their families, according to a humanitarian organisation. Since Moscow invaded in February of last year, Kyiv estimates that almost 19,500 children have been deported illegally to Russia.
Moscow, which governs a portion of eastern and southern Ukraine, has denied kidnapping children and claimed they were sent somewhere for their own protection.
The youngsters and their family had crossed the border into area under Kyiv control, according to the Save Ukraine organisation on Friday.
The youngsters, who were seen carrying backpacks and luggage, reportedly crossed the border on foot before boarding a bus to continue their journey.
"At this moment, the sixth rescue operation is almost over. It was unique in terms of the amount of kids we were able to get back and also because of how complicated it was, according to Mykola Kuleba, the founder of Save Ukraine. In what he dubbed the "most difficult" of the charity's rescue efforts to date, Kuleba commended the "heroic mothers" who had travelled to fetch their kids. With the logistics, transportation, and preparation necessary to set off on the protracted journey to retrieve their children and bring them back, the organisation assisted the Ukrainian families of children who had been transferred to Russia.
Due to the untimely death of a grandmother who was travelling with two of her grandkids due to "stress," the kids had to stay in Russia. Former Ukrainian child rights commissioner Kuleba spoke during a press conference in Kyiv.
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