Why are there different counts of abducted children?

The exact number of abducted children of Ukraine is unknown because Russia obstructs the investigation into the matter and does not provide access to its records. All the numbers we know are estimates based on various calculations.

The Ukrainian government has received 19,546 reports of abductions. Yet, this is the tip of an iceberg: a lot of families were not able to report an abduction of children if they were under occupation or killed.

The US State Department officials estimate that the number of abductions may reach as high as 260,000 children.

Russian Commissioner of Children's Rights has declared that 700,000 children from Ukraine have crossed the Russian border since the full-scale invasion, but did not specify how many of them were forcibly taken, how many were accompanied by parents, how many have left Russia after entering, etc.

Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab has mentioned that they track 35,000 children, but that number has not made it into their official reports yet and requires verification.

How many children have been returned so far?

Ukraine continuously works on the return of children via various channels: negotiations with Russia, mediation by third parties (e.g. Qatar) and assisted returns by the Ukrainian civil society groups (Save Ukraine, Helping to Leave, Ukraine's Children Rights Network).

The number of returned children grows as more children are being rescued. For the most updated number of returned children, refer to the Bring Kids Back website.

As of August 25th, 2025 Bring Kids Back reported the return of 1560 children. This number includes children returned from abduction and those returned from occupied territories of Ukraine who were at risk of being abducted or drafted to the Russian army.

How many children live under Russian occupation?

It's worth keeping in mind that before Russia's full-scale invasion, there were 1.6 million children in territories currently occupied by Ukraine. It is unknown exactly how many children are still under occupation - how many were forcibly removed, left on their own, were killed or born. Ukraine's Ministry for Education stated that as of 2024, there were 600,000 children of school age in the territories occupied by Russia. 44,000 of them still secretly study online in Ukrainian schools. The number of children who continue studying online in Ukraine is decreasing because they grow out of school age, the risk to their lives increases and the hope for their liberation fades with every passing year.

Why does Russia steal Ukrainian children?

Russia pursues many reasons for abducting children: ethnic cleansing, weakening the resistance in occupied territories and accelerating their integration, shaping propaganda narratives, supplying their war machine with recruits, gaining leverage in negotiations, etc. Learn more about the reasons for abduction on our About the issue page.

How many Ukrainian children have been adopted into Russian families?

The exact number of children adopted by the Russian families is unknown because Russia does not reveal any records regarding its illegal adoption process.

Yale Human Research Lab (YHRL) has identified 314 individual Ukrainian children placed in Russia’s adoption and fostering program since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 208 of them have been placed for adoption or guardianship with citizens of Russia.

46.6% of the children identified have siblings with known names listed in the adoption databases. YHRL learned about at least one case, where three siblings from a family of four had been placed with a citizen of Russia without their fourth, eldest sibling who remained listed for adoption on Russia’s databases. Yale HRL does not know whether other groups of siblings listed in Russia’s child placement databases have also been separated from each other.

Following legal changes introduced in Russia between May 2022 - April 2023, Russian citizens who are the legal guardians of minors from Ukraine have been empowered to apply for Russian citizenship and renounce Ukrainian citizenship on the minor’s behalf.

Are all of the abducted children orphans?

No. There are multiple stories of children who have been separated or taken away from their families and homes. In the past, Ukrainian officials stated that Russia has abducted at least 4,500 Ukrainian orphans. The exact number of abducted orphans vs children who have families is unknown.