Nothing seems to have thwarted Moscow's determination to "Russify" Ukrainian children and prevent their return to Ukraine, despite international mediation. Whether they live in Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian army or have been deported to Russia, young Ukrainians are being forced into schools and paramilitary "re-education" programs, and those who are orphans or have been separated from their parents have been gradually disappearing into state institutions and adoptive families in Russia.

"Russia doesn't respect any international rules and doesn't want to return any children. It's getting harder and harder to repatriate them. The Russian special services are doing everything they can to prevent it," said Mybola Kuleba, director of Save Ukraine, an NGO that pioneered the repatriation of Ukrainian children from Russia.

"If a child talks about returning to Ukraine, they are immediately arrested, questioned, investigated," said an overwhelmed Kuleba. "In occupied Ukrainian territory, parents of children who expressed the wish to come to Kyiv were arrested and thrown into prison. Some Ukrainians who tried to pick up children in Russia, traveling via third countries, were arrested on arrival at Moscow airport and banned from Russia for 20 years."

You have 83.45% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.