Another six children were rescued from temporarily occupied territories with the help of the Save Ukraine team! The mission was carried out as part of the President of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative.

Among the children is 16-year-old Andrii. Russian soldiers repeatedly abducted his father to force him to cooperate: they beat him, tortured him with electricity, and once even forced him to dig his own grave at a cemetery. Eventually, due to severe beatings, the man died. At his funeral, representatives of the occupying administration told Andrii that he would soon be under Russian guardianship. The boy has now been reunited with his relatives in Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Sisters Olia 9-year-old Olia and 13-year-old Maryna in class, the occupiers trained for supposed “Ukrainian attacks”: they taught them to fear their own country. When Russian officials discovered the girls were in the care of their Ukrainian grandmother, they demanded she apply for Russian guardianship and threatened to take the girls away.

Seventeen-year-old Mariia was also targeted by Russian social services, who tried to take her from her aunt. She could barely endure the forced militarization in the Russian school: she was made to assemble rifles in lessons with National Guard officers, wear St. George’s ribbons, and hang Russian flags. They told her directly: “You are future soldiers.”

Anastasiia also lived in constant fear under occupation. The underage girl was relentlessly harassed by Russian soldiers—they pursued her at work, raided her home, and threatened her with weapons for refusing to “get acquainted.” Her hands trembled with every visit from the armed “guests,” and not even a fake wedding ring on her finger stopped them. Anastasiia has now been reunited with her brother and sister, who had previously been rescued by the Save Ukraine team.

Lastly, a miraculous rescue of Dmytro. To escape the occupation, Dmytro wrote Psalm 91 from the Bible on a sheet of paper—he kept it close to his heart and prayed during inspections and while crossing borders. Dmytro is now at the Save Ukraine, in the Hope and Healing Center and will soon head to Poland.

To date, the Save Ukraine team has rescued 618 children from occupation and from Russia, including 140 orphans. We thank our partners WeAreAllUkrainians and Reload Love for helping us save our children. Together, we continue the fight for every Ukrainian boy and girl who still remains in the temporarily occupied territories or in Russia.

**The names of the individuals have been changed for safety reasons.