A largely covert network of Ukrainian volunteers has quietly helped bring home hundreds of children who were deported or moved illegally from Ukrainian territory to Russia and Russian-controlled areas, according to CNN and the charity coordinating the effort.
Organizers liken the operation to an “underground railroad.” It depends on secret negotiations, logistics and covert travel routes that have enabled dozens of young Ukrainians to return to areas controlled by Kyiv. Volunteers say the work is necessary because there is no formal legal mechanism between Ukraine and Russia to secure the return of children taken across borders during the conflict.
One young returnee, 19-year-old Rostyslav Lavrov, described planning and carrying out his escape after years in Russian-controlled territory and repeated attempts by authorities to issue him Russian documents. “I chose a day when I had classes in another building. I woke up early, put on my uniform, and did everything as usual, so they would think I was going to study,” he said, adding that he left with nothing to avoid attention at checkpoints.
The operation is coordinated by Mykola Kuleba, founder of the Kyiv-based charity Save Ukraine and a longtime children’s rights advocate, who acknowledges the controversy around extralegal rescue efforts. “We created an underground railroad to locate and rescue these children,” he said, stressing that volunteers are filling a gap left by the absence of any agreed official process with Moscow and aiming to prevent what they describe as forced assimilation.
By the end of February, the volunteer network had helped more than 1,100 Ukrainian children return through these informal channels. Human rights groups and Ukraine’s ombudsperson say over 1.6 million children still live in territory under Russian control, where they face pressure to adopt Russian curricula, passports and other measures activists say erode their Ukrainian identity.
The rescue work connects to Bring Kids Back UA, a state-led 2023 action plan that coordinates international and non-governmental efforts to reintegrate returned children and document abuses for possible legal action. As the war continues into its fifth year, volunteers and officials say these rescue and reintegration efforts remain vital to reuniting families and protecting a generation affected by the conflict.
This account is based on reporting by CNN and information provided by the charity running the operations.
