Mariana Betsa is the deputy minister for foreign affairs of Ukraine.
Children are among the most vulnerable victims of any armed conflict. In Russia’s war of aggression, Ukrainian children have not only undergone trauma and displacement, but have suffered systemic deportation, illegal adoption and forced assimilation.
For Ukraine, the future of its children is nonnegotiable. They aren’t bargaining chips to be exchanged for territory, and their safe return can’t be relegated to a footnote in peace talks.
On the contrary, it is and must remain a precondition for a just and lasting resolution to the war.
This position has been unequivocally articulated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since the full-scale invasion’s earliest days. It’s one shared by the Ukrainian people and now echoed by a growing number of partners across the world. In last week’s powerful joint statement issued by 40 members of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, the message was clear: These children must come home.
Launched at our initiative, this coalition only continues to grow. Allies from across different continents have joined the effort, guided not only by international law but by their conscience. And Ukraine is grateful to each and every partner for their moral commitment and shared determination to defend the most vulnerable victims of this war.
But the responsibility to act now lies with Russia’s leadership. This moment, however small it may be, offers an opportunity to demonstrate good will, to step back from years of brutality and to provide the world with a sign that peace remains possible.
Sadly, any such sign feels as distant as ever.
Those of us who have observed the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his associates up close for more than a decade are well accustomed to their evasion, distortion and calculated indifference. Yet, even we are appalled by the deliberate cruelty and disconnect from reality when it comes to the fate of Ukraine’s stolen children.
Over the past months, Ukraine’s delegation traveled to Istanbul three times to sit across the table from representatives of the Russian Federation — individuals complicit in the ongoing aggression, the loss of Ukrainian lives and the abduction of Ukrainian children.
On every occasion, the return of these children was our foremost priority. And on every occasion, our appeals were met with silence, evasion and scorn.
Many Ukrainian kids have now been transferred deep into Russia, their names and identities changed, their native language forbidden. Some have been handed over to new families. Others, in one of the gravest violations imaginable, have been subjected to military training and exploited for propaganda.
This isn’t just a humanitarian emergency — it’s a legal and moral outrage. It’s a war crime.
While meeting with the Russian delegation in Istanbul back in June, Ukraine presented a list of 339 names — a modest starting point to build confidence and a test of good faith. Many weeks have since passed without any credible response or mechanism for return. And in the most recent meeting in Istanbul, Russia’s delegation again displayed no intention of engaging in serious dialog. That’s why the talks lasted less than an hour.
All the while — whether from institutions like the International Criminal Court, which issued arrest warrants against Putin and commissioner for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova, to independent experts such as Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab and numerous international human rights bodies that continue documenting the forced deportation and unlawful adoption of Ukrainian children — overwhelming evidence of Russia’s crimes against Ukraine’s children continues to emerge.
Still, in the face of such evidence, the Russian government continues to deny even the existence of these children. They mock our allies, speaking of “European tender-hearted aunties” as though empathy were a weakness.
But empathy is a strength. And the global community isn’t willing to tolerate these crimes.
To date, through the tireless efforts of Ukraine’s government and humanitarian organizations, along with the support and facilitation of our partners, around 1,500 children have been returned and reunited with their families. We’ve heard their first-hand accounts: Forbidden from speaking their own language, faced with bullying, uncertain if they’d ever see their families again.
Their suffering strengthens our resolve. Their return remains one of the most important duties of Ukraine’s government and civil society.
The international community is now sending a united message: No more delays and no more denials. Within all relevant frameworks, Ukraine will continue to demand Russia return its children and restore their names and identities. It will spare no effort to make Russia fulfil its obligations under international law — whether the Geneva Conventions or the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Until this happens, any new sanctions should be precise, targeted and strategically damaging. The loopholes that have allowed Russia to sustain its military and war economy must be closed. Russian propaganda can’t shield those responsible from legal accountability. There will be no safe haven for war criminals.
They must recognize the truth — that only one option is available both for the sake of global order and in the interest of Russia itself: returning Ukrainian children home. Then, and only then, can we speak of a credible path to comprehensive, just and lasting peace.
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