Five children returned from occupied Kherson region, 16-year-old girl forced to attend Russian school

Five more teenagers freed from occupation

Five more children have been successfully returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine from the temporarily occupied part of Kherson region. This was announced by Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration.

The group of rescued individuals includes two girls and three boys. The children’s ages range from 15 to 17 years.

Conditions of detention for 16-year-old girl

One of the rescued individuals is a 16-year-old girl. She survived an armed search conducted by Russian troops, during which the occupiers took her father.

Under pressure and threats, the teenager was forced to study at an institution of the Russian education system. There, she was involved in propaganda events, taught to disassemble weapons, and forced to address the personnel of the Russian army. She also lived in constant fear due to drone attacks on civilians.

Return mechanism and statistics

The return of the children was facilitated by the charitable organisation Save Ukraine. Currently, all five teenagers are safe and receiving the necessary support.

According to data, since the beginning of 2026, 235 children have already been returned from the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson region to the free part of Ukraine.

This work is being carried out within the framework of the presidential initiative Bring Kids Back UA, aimed at returning Ukrainian children from under occupation.