Princess Anne made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on 30 September to draw attention to the experiences of children affected by the war, Buckingham Palace said, according to BBC.

The Princess Royal left a toy bear at a memorial for children killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began. She also met teenagers who were taken from their homes by Russian forces who occupied Ukrainian territories. 

Princess Anne honors over 650 children killed by Russia

At the Martyrology memorial in Kyiv, the King’s sister stood alongside First Lady Olena Zelenska and Daria Herasymchuk, presidential advisor and commissioner for children’s rights, at the site honoring Ukrainian children killed by Russia.

“Already 657 children’s lives in Ukraine have been ended by Russian invaders,” Zelenska wrote on social media. “We remember and mourn each death. And we will not forgive any of them.”

Zelenska drew attention to recent losses. Russia killed twelve-year-old Oleksandra, a seventh-grader, three days earlier during morning shelling of Kyiv. She died in her room at home.

The day before Anne’s visit, in frontline Sumy oblast, a direct drone strike killed four-year-old Denys and six-year-old Yehor, along with their pregnant mother and father.

“These killings cannot be forgotten if the world wants to continue to be considered civilized and humane,” Zelenska wrote.

Ukrainian teenagers share stories of fleeing Russian occupation

Anne then visited the Child Rights Protection Center, created during the war to support affected young people. There she spoke with teenagers who had returned from Russian occupation. Zelenska shared their stories on social media.

Twelve-year-old Sashko survived the destruction of Mariupol and suffered a shrapnel wound to his eye while running to save his younger sister. He endured captivity in Russia and separation from his mother, who remains in Russian detention. He managed to call his grandmother, who traveled thousands of kilometers to bring him home.

Seventeen-year-old Valeriia from Nova Kakhovka in southern Kherson Oblast was sent by occupying forces to what they called a children’s camp. She made the risky decision to leave occupied territory independently through a dangerous humanitarian corridor. She was among the first children to return from Russian camps.

Marta has lived under occupation since 2014 and could only leave for Ukraine to study in her native language after she turned 18. Throughout those years, she secretly studied Ukrainian and maintained contact with Ukraine while living under Russian control.

“These [three] young people are among the children Russia kidnapped. And among the 1,645 we have managed to return from captivity,” Zelenska wrote.

Kyiv estimates at least 19,500 Ukrainian children have been deported and forcibly displaced to Russia and Russian-occupied territories since February 2022.

Russia imposes special “patriotic” programs to re-educated Ukrainian children

A Yale University study published on 16 September identified 210 facilities across 59 Russian regions used to detain Ukrainian children. The network stretches 5,630 kilometers from Crimea to Russia’s Pacific coast.

More than 130 of these sites impose what researchers call “patriotic” education programs. Children are forbidden from speaking Ukrainian, assigned new names and Russian documents, and required to sing the Russian anthem and recite Russian poetry. At 39 facilities, children receive military training including weapons handling and trench digging.

During the visit with Princess Anne, representatives from the Voices of Children foundation described the psychological challenges Ukrainian children face in Russia—pressure, intimidation and deception—and the difficult path of overcoming trauma to return to normal life. Therefore, Ukraine has established a reintegration program for returned children, Zelenska noted.

Anne also met female police and armed forces officers working to protect women and children. She spoke to injured veterans and those with conflict-related trauma at a rehabilitation center.

Prince Harry also visited Ukraine recently

The visit marks the second Royal trip to Ukraine in less than a month. Prince Harry visited Kyiv just weeks earlier in mid-September to meet war-wounded veterans. The King welcomed Zelenskyy to his Sandringham estate in March.

During US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK, the King raised the conflict directly:

“As tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace.”