Published: TUESDAY Aug 4, 2026: 'Ukraine's Stolen Generation' by ZUMA Press award winning photo-journalist Svet Jacqueline: Ukraine says more than 19,000 children have been illegally taken by Russia since the war began. When Russia invaded Ukraine over 4 years ago now, it didn't just take territory. It separated thousands of Ukrainian children from the only home they've ever known, relocating them to Russian-occupied territory or to Russia itself. Bringing the children home remains an uphill battle, with only about 2,000 children successfully returned so far. The scale of the child transfers has drawn strict condemnation from the international community. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children. Most of those children have not returned. Some who have are young adults now, and they're speaking out. Welcome 'Ukraine's Stolen Generation'
© zReportage.com Issue #1049 Story of the Week: Published: TUESDAY Aug 4, 2026: 'Ukraine's Stolen Generation' by ZUMA Press award winning photo-journalist Svet Jacqueline: Ukraine says more than 19,000 children have been illegally taken by Russia since the war began. When Russia invaded Ukraine over 4 years ago now, it didn't just take territory. It separated thousands of Ukrainian children from the only home they've ever known, relocating them to Russian-occupied territory or to Russia itself. Bringing the children home remains an uphill battle, with only about 2,000 children successfully returned so far. The scale of the child transfers has drawn strict condemnation from the international community. The International Criminal Court (ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children. Most of those children have not returned. Some who have are young adults now, and they're speaking out. Welcome 'Ukraine's Stolen Generation'
Ditting quietlky together a Ukrainian family discusses the trauma they endured getting their children back and trying to reunite after the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. When Russia invaded Ukraine over 4 years ago, it didn't just take territory. It separated thousands of Ukrainian children from the only home they've ever known, relocating them to Russian-occupied territory or to Russia itself.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
A Ukrainian family react while discussing the trauma they endured getting their children back and trying to reunite after the Russian full-scale invasion.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
DENYS BEREZHNYI, 18, reached Kyiv, Ukraine from Russian occupied territory with the help of volunteers from Save Ukraine.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
Children at the Save Ukraine house in Kyiv, Ukraine adjust to returning home from Russian occupied territory. The organization Save Ukraine operates a major recovery and rehabilitation facility in Kyiv known as the Hope and Healing Center, which provides temporary shelter, trauma care, and housing support for families and children displaced or affected by the war.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
MYKOLA KULEBA, founder of Save Ukraine, meets children recently returned to Ukraine from Russian territory. Save Ukraine is an organization that evacuates and rehabilitates children affected by war.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
Children at the Save Ukraine house in Kyiv, Ukraine adjust to returning home with activities and support.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
KSENIA KOLDIN, at Save Ukraine in Kyiv, recounts her fight to get her younger brother back from Russia.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
KSENIA KOLDIN, at Save Ukraine in Kyiv, recounts her fight to get her younger brother back from Russia.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
Art therapy by children at the Save Save Ukraine house in Kyiv, Ukraine.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
Children at the Save Ukraine house in Kyiv, Ukraine adjust to returning home with activities and support.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
DENYS BEREZHNYI, 18, reached Kyiv, Ukraine from Russian occupied territory with the help of volunteers from Save Ukraine.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
DENYS BEREZHNYI, 18, reached Kyiv, Ukraine from Russian occupied territory with the help of volunteers from Save Ukraine.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
ROSTYSLAV LAVROV, 17, reached Kyiv, Ukraine from Russian occupied territory with the help of volunteers from Save Ukraine. While in Russia Rostyslav was sent to train to be a welder at a college in Kerch in Crimea, where he lived with two friends from his home region. Together, they secretly watched Ukrainian President Zelensky's New Year speech on their phones and plotted to return to Ukrainian-held land.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
VALERIA SYDOROVA, 17, poses for a portrait in her foster home in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukrainian teen Valeria Sydorova found a way out of Russian-held territory after she was sent to a camp in occupied Crimea. Kids forcibly removed from occupied territory by Russia are racing against time with the help of charities, governments and their own wits.
© Svet Jacquelin/ZUMA Press Wire
Valeria Sydorova, 17, shows off her new Ukrainian passport after surrendering her Russian passport before returning to Ukraine.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
VALERIA SYDOROVA, 17, in her new bedroom Kyiv, Ukraine where she has been living for the past few months.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
VALERIA SYDOROVA, 17, and her foster mom, OLGA TYMCHENKO, watch videos in their new Kyiv apartment.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
VALERIA SYDOROVA, 17, sits on her bed in her new foster home in Kyiv. The children and their families are in a race against time to get them back before they are lost for good. Several hundred children have managed to return home, on their own or with the help of relatives, friends, charities, Ukrainian authorities, foreign governments and Russian volunteers.
© Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire
