In a Telegram message, Kuleba said that two of the rescued children are orphans. All 14 children were returned over the course of the week.
He recounted the story of two teenage girls, Alisa and Milana. Russian tanks had fired at their homes, forcing them and their families to hide and sleep in damp basements for a while. They witnessed Russian punitive raids, their parents were interrogated and pressured to apply for Russian citizenship.
“Rescuing each child is a difficult task, so every successful attempt is a small victory on the path to our common victory over the enemy,” Kuleba added.
He noted that their team has so far returned home 373 children who were either forcibly relocated to Russia or found themselves under occupation.
In 2023, the European Parliament reported that the number of illegally deported Ukrainian children to Russia could reach 300,000. EMPs believe that the forced relocation of Ukrainian children to Russia began in 2014, following the occupation of Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.