Last week, the Save Ukraine team rescued 11 Ukrainian children and teenagers from occupation. This was made possible thanks to the support of Wladimir Klitschko, Tatjana Kiel from We Are All Ukrainians, Helping to Leave, and the Joint Center for the Coordination of Search and Release. These children endured years of intimidation and attempts to erase their national identity. Today, they are finally safe.

Among those rescued:

11-year-old Vika, whom the occupation authorities attempted to send to an orphanage. A criminal case was opened against the girl’s mother, and she was illegally stripped of her parental rights after officials learned that the woman was serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. After three and a half years, the daughter was finally able to embrace her mother again.

11-year-old Renat and 5-year-old Demian, who were taken by Russian soldiers to a so-called “court” in a district center. They were interrogated, insulted, and called degrading names. In front of the children, their father was humiliated. The boys cried, trembled, and clung to their father’s hand in fear.

19-year-old Albina, who, while under occupation, was pressured by doctors at a Russian hospital to have an abortion. She was asked, “Why would you give birth?” Later, she was denied an ultrasound examination, despite having an official referral from a doctor.

18-year-old Bohdan, who was forced to study under occupation in a Russian school, where education was replaced by constant war propaganda. A mandatory subject on “basic security and defense” was taught by military personnel. The school had cadet classes with strict military discipline and posters promoting the “Yunarmiya” movement. Students were constantly asked whether they were “patriots,” and a history teacher openly called for “dropping nuclear bombs on Europe.” Children were humiliated for speaking Ukrainian or English.

Today, all those rescued are staying at our Hope and Healing Centers, where they receive psychological support, assistance with documents, housing, and care — everything they need to recover from the horrors of war and learn how to dream again.

Thanks to Save Ukraine, more than 1,000 children have already been brought home. But thousands more are still waiting to be rescued.