U.S. First Lady Aids in Reuniting Seven Ukrainian Children with Families Amid Ongoing Conflict

Russia has successfully reunited seven Ukrainian children with their families, facilitated by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, as announced by the White House on Thursday.

The group, consisting of six boys and one girl, was brought back to Ukraine as part of Trump’s “reunification initiative.”

Maria Lvova-Belova, the Kremlin’s commissioner for children’s rights, confirmed the children’s return and expressed gratitude to the First Lady for her «steadfast dedication and participation in this endeavor.»

In October, Trump mentioned that she had communicated with Russian President Vladimir Putin through an intermediary regarding the situation of Ukrainian children taken to Russia since the onset of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. She noted that Putin had replied to a letter she sent through her husband, then-President Donald Trump, during a summit with him in Alaska in August.

The International Criminal Court has issued warrants for both Lvova-Belova and Putin, accusing them of unlawfully transferring Ukrainian children to Russia—an act categorized by prosecutors as a war crime. Russia, which does not recognize the authority of the ICC, has dismissed these allegations.

Kyiv claims that over 19,000 children have been deported by Moscow since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, a statement that Russia refutes. On Thursday, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry indicated that only 1,850 children have been returned thus far.

On Wednesday, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution, supported by the United States, calling for Russia to promptly return all Ukrainian children who have been forcibly taken.