MANIPULATION: Russia ensures the well-being of Ukrainian children, while Ukraine uses them in propaganda

Russian Telegram channels are spreading information claiming that Russia cares about Ukrainian children and ensures their well-being, while Ukraine itself allegedly uses them for propaganda purposes. As “evidence,” they cite the words of Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, who said that Russia helps to “reunite Ukrainian children with their families.”

This is manipulation. Numerous investigations by independent media, organizations, and international institutions prove that Russia abducts Ukrainian children and imposes its propaganda.  

On October 10, 2025, U.S. First Lady Melania Trump stated that she has an “open channel” of communication with Putin. He allegedly agreed to cooperate with her on the issue of returning previously abducted Ukrainian children: “Since then, President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication regarding the welfare of these children. We have agreed to cooperate with each other for the benefit of all people involved in this war.”

At the same time, she did not state that Russia itself ensures their well-being. Melania noted that Russia, like Ukraine, is only cooperating with her team on the return of the children: “He (Putin) responded in writing signaling a willingness to engage with me directly and outlining details regarding the Ukrainian children residing in Russia.”

The contact with Putin was preceded by a letter which, according to the American outlet Fox News, Melania passed to Putin in August of this year through Donald Trump. It spoke about protecting children’s future, but without reference to Ukraine. Ultimately, in her October 10 video address, Melania spoke about the return of eight children and the continuation of work in this direction.

Does Russia really ensure the well-being of Ukrainian children?

In fact, numerous investigations by Ukrainian independent newsrooms prove that Russia removed Ukrainian children from occupied territories and abducted them, deported them, and adopted them into Russian families. According to the presidential adviser–commissioner for children’s rights, Daria Herasymchuk, as of early 2025, Russia, according to official data, had taken out at least 20,000 Ukrainian children.

Some of them end up in “reeducation” camps, where, for example, they are forced to sing the Russian anthem or learn military skills. These facts were confirmed by the children themselves whom Ukraine managed to return: “We had to disassemble weapons, assemble them, march in formation, throw grenades. They literally led us there by the hand.”

Russian occupation forces also abducted children with disabilities. In 2022, Russians removed 84 children with disabilities from the Oleshky boarding school to temporarily occupied Crimea, as well as to Russia’s Krasnodar Krai. According to investigators, most of them were minors, and they were moved without the consent of relatives or legal representatives.

Researchers from the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health established that there are at least 210 institutions in Russia and in the occupied territories where Ukrainian children are being “reeducated.” And in occupied Luhansk Oblast, Russia even created an online database of children aged 2 to 17 for their further adoption.

The abduction of children has been repeatedly confirmed not only by independent organizations or investigative journalists, but also by international institutions. Thus, on March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and Russia’s children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova precisely for the abduction, removal, and deportation of Ukrainian children. The same year, at the UN General Assembly, 49 countries condemned Russia’s actions in a joint statement.

Despite this, Ukraine is working on their return, in particular within the framework of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, and is engaging other countries in this effort. As Olena Zelenska reported on September 23, 2025, Ukraine has so far returned 1,625 children.