15/06/2026
In May 2026, Ukraine continued its efforts to return unlawfully deported and forcibly transferred children, while strengthening international coordination, sanctions pressure, legal accountability, and global advocacy.
This month, 74 children were returned, bringing the total number of returned children to 2,200.
Key developments in May 2026:
🔹 On 11 May, the third High-Level Meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children took place in Brussels, co-hosted by Ukraine, Canada, and the European Union. Delegations from 63 countries and international organisations participated in the meeting.
🔹 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children is not only a Ukrainian issue, but a global challenge that requires a global response.
🔹 Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha emphasised that statements of support are not enough, and that concrete political and legal actions are needed to return Ukrainian children home.
🔹 The International Coalition expanded to 49 members, with Cyprus, Panama, Switzerland, Monaco, and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly joining since the previous meeting in New York.
🔹 The EU, the UK, Canada, and Norway announced the largest-ever coordinated sanctions package targeting individuals and entities involved in the deportation, forced assimilation, indoctrination, and militarised education of Ukrainian children.
🔹 Forty-one OSCE participating States invoked the Moscow Mechanism to establish facts concerning Russia’s militarisation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children.
🔹 New evidence highlighted the scale of Russia’s military-patriotic network “Voin”, which operates branches in the temporarily occupied territories and trains Ukrainian children for war.
🔹 A Russian FPV drone struck a clearly marked Save Ukraine evacuation vehicle in Kramatorsk, once again showing the risks faced by humanitarian missions working to evacuate families and children.
🔹 Yana Lantratova, charged in absentia by Ukraine in connection with the deportation of children from the Kherson Children’s Home, was appointed Russia’s High Commissioner for Human Rights.
🔹 The International Criminal Court found Tajikistan in breach of its obligations after it failed to arrest Vladimir Putin during his visit to Dushanbe in October 2025.
🔹 Canada announced that it will host the next Canada-Ukraine-Norway Conference in Toronto on 28–29 September, focusing on the return, rehabilitation, and reintegration of Ukrainian deported children, detained civilians, and prisoners of war.
As of April 2026, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has officially confirmed 20,570 cases of deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children. The real number is likely much higher.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children remain under Russian control.
There can be no just and lasting peace without the return of Ukrainian children.