The UN General Assembly has called for the immediate and unconditional return of all Ukrainian children who were forcibly displaced or deported during the ongoing war with Russia. This resolution received backing from 91 nations around the globe.
The document was adopted during a meeting on December 3rd.
Additionally, the resolution urges Russia to halt any further practices of forced displacement, deportation, and separation of children from their families and legal guardians, as well as changes to their personal status, including citizenship, adoption, or placement in foster care.
In opposition to the resolution, besides Russia, Belarus, Iran, Nicaragua, Cuba, Eritrea, Mali, and several other states voted against it. 57 countries, including China and India, abstained.
The resolution regarding the return of Ukrainian children, discussed by the UN General Assembly, emphasizes a moral obligation of the international community to bring every child back home, as stressed by Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Maryana Betza, who represented the document.
"Our children have been killed. Our children have been wounded. Our children have suffered torture and rape. Our children have been abducted and deported by Russia, which constitutes a severe violation of international law," said Betza.
She reminded that Russia has deported at least 20,000 Ukrainian children to date, while Ukraine has managed to return over 1,850 of them. Betza noted that the Russian authorities are attempting to "erase the identity of Ukrainian children and replace it with hostile propaganda," stripping away their language, literature, and history, prohibiting books, and persecuting teachers and parents. Children are forced to "repeat falsehoods about Ukraine as a Nazi state," while "military training and ideological indoctrination" occurs even in so-called children's armies.
During the project's discussion, the President of the UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock emphasized that the deportation of children is a violation of international humanitarian law. She reminded that Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the forcible transfer of civilians from occupied territories, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees every child's right to identity, family life, citizenship, and protection from abduction.
What is known about the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia
The President's Commissioner for Children's Rights Daria Gerasimchuk previously reported that as of late March 2023, Ukrainian authorities were aware of over 19,500 children taken from temporarily occupied territories to Russia, but it is challenging to determine their exact number due to the occupation.
On April 5, 2023, 49 countries made a joint statement condemning Russia for organizing a Security Council meeting regarding the alleged legal grounds for the abduction of Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories. The UK blocked the broadcast of the Russian children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova's speech on UN resources, calling for her to be held accountable in court in The Hague.
The Office of the Prosecutor General indicated that there is currently no unified transparent algorithm or mechanism to facilitate the return of deported Ukrainian children from Russia.
On March 17, 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of illegal deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children.
On September 23, 2025, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine successfully returned 1,625 Ukrainian children.
