Children and their families lived in occupied parts of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. They were returned to Ukrainian controlled territory, where they "are recovering from the horrors of occupation."
Lubinets also said that a large-scale campaign of forced passportization is taking place in the temporary occupied territories (TOT).
"According to the returnees, without a Russian passport, you cannot do anything or receive medical care," ombudsman wrote.
"The children saw with their own eyes how the Russians conducted unreasonable searches in their homes. And the mother of one of the boys said that they were living in a house damaged by a Russian shell."
In addition, according to Lubinets, occupation "authorities" forced children to go to a Russian school and sing the Russian anthem every Monday.
Some children managed to get Ukrainian education online, but the occupiers intimidated parents, threatening that their children would be taken away.
Ombudsman said that returned children already visited the Center for the Protection of Children's Rights. There, a competent multifunctional team talked to them and recorded the crimes these children had witnessed or been victims of.
"Ukraine is always ready for the return of everyone and will provide basic humanitarian, medical, psychological, social and other necessary assistance," he added.
Abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia
In 2023, the European Parliament reported that the number of Ukrainian children illegally abducted to Russia could reach 300,000. MEPs believe that Russians began taking Ukrainian children in 2014 when they occupied Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said during the fourth meeting of the Peace Formula advisers in Davos on Jan. 14 that Ukraine had returned 517 illegally abducted children and 2,828 adults from Russia, including only 150 civilians.
"No one can say for sure how many Ukrainians, including children, adult civilians, and military personnel, are in Russian captivity," President Zelenskyy said on Feb. 26.
At least 19,546 children have been abducted or forcibly displaced by Russia, and 2,015 children are reported missing, according to the Ukrainian state platform Children of War, as of May 2024.