The UK will never look away as Russia wages its illegal war.   At the @OSCE yesterday, I set out how we stand with Ukraine - for its sovereignty, and for all our security. And I challenged Russia directly over their forced deportation of Ukrainian children #BringKidsBackUA 🇬🇧🇺🇦

🔴 Russia keeps targeting civilians in Ukraine. Seven people were injured when a Russian strike hit an apartment building in Okhtyrka, and three more were hurt in Chernihiv after a drone crashed into a residential block, local authorities report.

The death toll in Ternopil has risen to 38. Following the November 19 Russian attack on a residential high-rise, the bodies of two more people previously listed as missing, have been recovered. Among the victims are 8 children.

Russia continues the systematic abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children—moving them to Crimea, Siberia, and remote regions of the Russian Federation; isolating them in camps; subjecting them to forced Russification; and teaching them to fear and hate their own country. This is happening today, in the 21st century. And despite global commitments to child protection, international mechanisms remain deeply ineffective in stopping these crimes. That is why we brought this issue to Georgetown University. Together with researchers, diplomats, human rights experts, and artists, we examined what lies behind the technical language of official reports: the lived experiences of children who endured separation, coercive indoctrination, and months without contact with their families. One focus of the event was the role of art as a form of truth-telling when formal systems fail. The Metropolitan Opera is developing The Mothers of Kherson, inspired by real Ukrainian women who traveled into occupied Crimea to bring their children home. Art can sometimes communicate moral clarity where institutions fall silent. We also heard from Alla, a mother from Kherson. Her 13-year-old son was taken by Russian authorities to a so-called “holiday camp” in Crimea and held for six months. He was forced to sing the Russian anthem, repeat propaganda, and told that his mother had abandoned him. To bring him home, Alla crossed multiple countries, endured interrogations by the FSB, and faced pressure and threats from Russian media. She spoke not only for herself, but for thousands of mothers from Kherson and other regions whose children remain in camps, institutions, and foreign families inside Russia. These are the families @SaveukraineUs works for every day—locating abducted children, bringing them home, and supporting their recovery after months of coercion and trauma. 📹 Watch & sare full discussion: youtu.be/qtfF9Nwa0f8?si=ing9…

Another Ukrainian boy has been rescued from a temporarily occupied territory as part of the President of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative, with the support of the Ukrainian Child Rights Network. Seven-year-old Makar lived almost four years without his mother. On the eve of the full-scale invasion, she travelled to Kyiv for work, and on 24 February, their village fell under occupation. Makar stayed with his grandmother, and from then on, their life was filled with constant searches, checks, and pressure from Russian soldiers. When it was time for him to start school, the occupation administration demanded that a Russian birth certificate be issued. This was impossible without his parents, and the occupiers deliberately blocked any attempt to formalise guardianship. Later, the so-called “child protection” services began threatening to take Makar to an orphanage — a typical tool of pressure Russia uses in the temporarily occupied territories. All this time, his mother was looking for a way to bring her son back. A random social media post eventually led her to the Ukrainian Child Rights Network. Right before the holidays, Makar finally saw his mother again — after almost four years of separation. He is now safe, with his family, and receiving all the support he needs to adapt: a social worker, psychologist, and other specialists are working with him. We are sincerely grateful to the Ukrainian Child Rights Network for helping rescue this boy. We will not stop until every Ukrainian child returns home. #BringKidsBack Name changed for security reasons.

⚡️‼️BREAKING: Zelenskyy to Espresso TV on the abduction of Ukrainian children and the possibility of including their return in any potential “peace deal” Zelenskyy: Indeed, senators and congressmen are working on this (referring to the hearings in the Senate that took place just last week) and I’m in constant contact with them. I have personal meetings and phone calls about this issue. They support it. By the way, First Lady Melania also supports this cause. It’s a painful and sensitive issue — for Americans, just as it is for us — though for us, these are our children. For us, it’s certainly closer, without a doubt. But it’s important for Americans as well. Regarding the 20-point document, the return of children, as well as the exchange of all our prisoners, is already included. As for the U.S. senators and congressmen, they are advancing relevant legislation about our children through Congress, and we will continue to support them in this.

🚨 Some Ukrainian children abducted by Russia were forcibly transferred to North Korea and placed in military camps, Ukrainian human rights organizations say. This was just announced at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.

An unusually frank public position from Germany’s Merz in London here: “frankly sceptical” about some elements of US plans.