Ukraine has verified 20,651 cases of the deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children by Russia, said Maksym Maksymov, head of the presidential initiative Bring Kids Back UA.
"As of September 18, 2026, Ukraine has verified 20,651 cases of the deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children. Each case has been checked by the Interagency Commission, and all have been entered into the Registry maintained by the Ministry of Justice," he said in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
According to Maksymov, verifying a single case is a complex and time-consuming process, as it requires confirming the child's identity, the circumstances of their transfer, the status of their parents, and who acts as their legal representative in Ukraine.
"And this has to be done by cross-referencing several independent datasets, since we receive nothing from Russia. That is precisely why the number of verified cases is growing slowly," he explained.
At the same time, he emphasized that the figure of over 20,600 cases of child deportation and forced transfer represents the number Ukraine has managed to confirm so far, not the total number of children taken away by Russia.
