Efforts underway to return Ukrainian children from Russia

Schoolchildren who fled Ukraine attend a mixed class with other Ukrainian children living in Vienna, Austria.
Schoolchildren who fled Ukraine attend a mixed class with other Ukrainian children living in Vienna, Austria.
REUTERS/Lisa Leutner

There’s no sign the Russian and Ukrainian governments are ready to talk peace, but there has reportedly been progress made in mediating agreements to return Ukrainian children, taken by Russian forces into Russian territory, to their families in Ukraine.

The Russian seizure of these children has led the International Criminal Court to charge Russia’s Vladimir Putin with war crimes, but the Financial Times has reported on mediation efforts, led by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, to repatriate as many Ukrainian children as possible.

Russian officials claim the children have been moved to protect them from the fighting. Ukrainian authorities charge the kids are being put into special children’s homes where Russian teachers feed them propaganda about the war and try to erase their Ukrainian identities. Some have been adopted by Russian parents.

The first task for mediators is to work with Ukrainian and Russian officials to build an accurate record of the thousands of Ukrainian kids now held inside Russia. Once completed, the goal is to find the best family solution for each child based on the location of their closest living relatives.

Given how emotive, and therefore sensitive, the issue is, none of the governments involved in this process has commented publicly on it. There are some grounds for hope that mediation efforts on this issue – with trusted outsiders working with the Ukrainian and Russian sides separately – could eventually lead to peace talks with a similar structure.

More from GZERO Media

- YouTube

Artificial intelligence is transforming the global workforce, but its impact looks different across economies. Christine Qiang, Global Director in the World Bank’s Digital Vice Presidency, tells GZERO Media’s Tony Maciulis that while “every single job will be reshaped,” developing countries are seeing faster growth in demand for AI skills than high-income nations.

Hamas militant stands guard, as heavy machinery operates at the site where searches are underway for the bodies of hostages killed after being seized by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attack, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, October 17, 2025.
REUTERS/Stringer

On Monday, Hamas freed the remaining 20 living hostages, while Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners — the first step in the ceasefire deal the two sides struck last week.

- YouTube

As the US economy continues to defy expectations, Eurasia Group Managing Director of Global Macro Robert Kahn says the key question is whether a slowdown has been avoided or merely delayed. “The headline here is the impressive resilience of the US, maybe also the global economy over the last six months,” Kahn tells GZERO Media’s Tony Maciulis on the sidelines of the 2025 World Bank–IMF Annual Meetings.