Author:
Yuliia Didenko
The Voices of Children Foundation welcomed First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska and UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Yvette Cooper to its center in Kyiv.
The discussion focused on one of the most painful issues—how to bring children back from the temporarily occupied regions and how to support them after their return. The First Lady emphasized the importance of systematic work: documenting cases, strengthening international cooperation, and providing continued support to families after reunification.
Also present at the meeting was Yuliia, a mother of two sons. She spent one year and seven months in detention in a temporarily occupied territory. The Russian forces intimidated the woman: they tried to coerce her into signing a fabricated confession of “espionage” and threatened to send her children to an orphanage. Meanwhile, the boys attended school in occupied Chystiakove, where the curriculum was infused with Russian propaganda. For ethical, psychological, and security reasons, the children were not present at the meeting.
In 2022, Yuliia was released during a large prisoner exchange, along with 108 other women. However, it took nearly two more months to bring her children back. The Ukrainian Child Rights Network coordinated their return. The organization’s representative, psychologist Nataliia Yemets, noted that with each case, the process of returning children becomes increasingly difficult.
Also present at the meeting was Yuliia, a mother of two sons. She spent one year and seven months in detention in a temporarily occupied territory. The Russian forces intimidated the woman: they tried to coerce her into signing a fabricated confession of “espionage” and threatened to send her children to an orphanage. Meanwhile, the boys attended school in occupied Chystiakove, where the curriculum was infused with Russian propaganda. For ethical, psychological, and security reasons, the children were not present at the meeting.
In 2022, Yuliia was released during a large prisoner exchange, along with 108 other women. However, it took nearly two more months to bring her children back. The Ukrainian Child Rights Network coordinated their return. The organization’s representative, psychologist Nataliia Yemets, noted that with each case, the process of returning children becomes increasingly difficult.
This story has a happy ending—Yuliia and her children are now safe. However, thousands of Ukrainian families remain separated: parents are held in prisons, and children are placed in orphanages. Within the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, Ukraine is doing everything possible to free them and, together with the Voices of Children Foundation, to help restore their belief in the future. In this difficult process, we deeply appreciate the support of the United Kingdom and all our partners who stand with Ukraine in saving lives and protecting humanity,
Olena Rozvadovska, co-founder and Chair of the Board of Voices of Children, spoke about supporting children who have returned from occupation or deportation.
Reintegration is our key challenge today. We are developing mechanisms and tools to be closer and more effective for children who have experienced war-related trauma and need psychological and psychosocial support in the process of stabilization,
The Importance of Reintegration
Every day, the Voices of Children Foundation provides psychological and psychosocial support to children who have lived through occupation and isolation. We view reintegration more broadly, as all children in Ukraine are growing up in the context of war and require sustained reintegration support. This includes children who have left institutional care, internally displaced children, and those returning from abroad.
After prolonged exposure to a different informational and social environment, a child may withdraw or protest. This is a protective response. Children returning from temporarily occupied territories or from Russia have experienced situations in which their sense of control was taken away. As a result, they may struggle with distrust toward the world and other people.
The Foundation’s specialists work with key challenges: the loss of a sense of safety, complex feelings related to return, language, symbols, belonging, and trust. These issues were addressed in detail during the meeting by Yuliia Tukalenko, a psychologist at the Foundation.
After prolonged exposure to a different informational and social environment, a child may withdraw or protest. This is a protective response. Children returning from temporarily occupied territories or from Russia have experienced situations in which their sense of control was taken away. As a result, they may struggle with distrust toward the world and other people.
The Foundation’s specialists work with key challenges: the loss of a sense of safety, complex feelings related to return, language, symbols, belonging, and trust. These issues were addressed in detail during the meeting by Yuliia Tukalenko, a psychologist at the Foundation.
The United Kingdom actively supports international efforts within the Ukrainian President’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative by providing diplomatic, legal, humanitarian, and informational assistance. The UK delivers critically important support in tracing abducted children and verifying data. The UK has also introduced four sanctions packages in response to the abduction and forced deportation of Ukrainian children.
During the meeting, we also asked the UK Foreign Secretary to pass on our letter of gratitude to Violet, a British schoolgirl who has been raising funds to support Ukrainian children for a long period.
During the meeting, we also asked the UK Foreign Secretary to pass on our letter of gratitude to Violet, a British schoolgirl who has been raising funds to support Ukrainian children for a long period.
The Voices of Children Foundation expresses its gratitude to its partners—Maksym Maksymov and the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, Nataliia Yemets and the Ukrainian Child Rights Network—for their joint efforts to save and reunite every family torn apart by Russia.
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