MOSCOW — (BN24) Russia will return five Ukrainian children separated from their families since the start of the war, according to an announcement Thursday from Kremlin officials, marking a small but highly symbolic move in the bitter dispute over child abductions during the conflict.
Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, said the children would be reunited with their relatives in Ukraine by the end of the month. Her comments came during a press briefing on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The five children are part of a list of 339 that Ukrainian negotiators submitted to Russia earlier this month during peace talks in Istanbul — discussions that ultimately failed to yield a breakthrough toward ending the war, now in its third year.
Responding to questions from Russian media, Lvova-Belova explained that the delay in returning the children was due to the academic calendar. “They are finishing the school year, and after that they will return to their relatives in Ukraine,” she said.
She did not provide any update on the status of the remaining children on Ukraine’s list, nor did she clarify whether further reunifications were being scheduled.
Lvova-Belova also noted that Russia is compiling its own list of children it believes are of Russian origin and currently located in Ukraine or elsewhere in Europe. According to her, eight children have been identified in European Union countries after being evacuated from Ukraine, and negotiations are underway for their return. An additional ten Russian children are believed to be inside Ukraine.
“We also have children in Ukraine who require reunification with Russian families,” she said, emphasizing that Moscow intends to present its own demands during future negotiations, although no timeline for another round of talks has been confirmed.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of abducting thousands of children from occupied territories since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Kyiv insists many of the children were forcibly removed and placed with Russian families or in state-run institutions, often under efforts to erase their Ukrainian identities.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, charging them with war crimes related to the unlawful transfer and deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia. The Kremlin has rejected the charges, maintaining that the children were relocated from active combat zones for their safety.
Despite international condemnation and legal pressure, Russia has continued to deflect accusations of wrongdoing, framing its actions as humanitarian. The return of five children represents only a fraction of those Ukraine is demanding back, and officials in Kyiv have warned that any progress must be measured against the broader context of what they describe as systematic child abductions carried out by the Russian state.
As the war grinds on with no resolution in sight, the fate of hundreds of Ukrainian children remains a deeply emotional and politically charged issue — one that is likely to linger at the center of any future reconciliation or accountability efforts between the two nations.
