Ukraine Returns Over 1,000 POWs, Dozens of Abducted Children from Russia

Ukraine has recently repatriated a new group of over 1,000 prisoners of war from Russia, including those who were ill or seriously wounded, under agreements made during peace talks in Turkey. Russia has also agreed to exchange more prisoners and is prepared to return 3,000 more bodies of dead soldiers, although Moscow insists that any summit between Presidents Zelenskiy and Putin should focus solely on signing documents rather than discussions. In a related humanitarian effort under President Zelenskiy's Bring Kids Back UA initiative, Ukraine successfully brought back a teenager forcibly taken from Mariupol to Russia, reuniting him with his mother after more than three years of separation and systemic bullying in a Russian school. Lithuania has pledged strong support for Ukraine's efforts to return prisoners of war and abducted children from Russia, participating in the Safe Pathways Home initiative that aims to coordinate international assistance to facilitate safe returns. Since the full-scale war began, Russia has deported over 19,500 Ukrainian children, with more than a thousand successfully returned; this mass deportation has led to International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights. Ukraine’s parliament is also moving to criminalize the illegal transfer and use of children for military purposes by foreign state representatives.