18 Ukrainian children and teenagers were rescued from occupation last week by the Save Ukraine team.

This mission was made possible thanks to the support of Wolodymyr Klitschko, Tatjana Kiel from WeAreAllUkrainians, the Humanity Foundation, and the Joint Center for Search and Release Coordination.
These children endured threats, pressure, and attempts at ideological “re-education” — but today, they are finally safe.

Among those rescued:

🔹 16-year-old Mykola, 11-year-old Tetiana, and 7-year-old Anzhelika, whose mother was interrogated at the border and pressured to reveal the whereabouts of her soldier husband. Earlier, occupation authorities threatened to take the children away because she refused Russian schooling and vaccination mandates.

🔹 11-year-old Kyrylo and 9-year-old Arsen, who were forced to attend “Razgovory o vazhnom” lessons several times a week from first grade on, while their parents were pressured to contribute money “for the needs of the Russian army.” When the family stopped complying, the teacher turned the class against the child.

🔹 17-year-old Taras, who spent most of his life under occupation. His schooling was saturated with propaganda and quasi-military training — grenade throwing, “trench drills,” weapons assembly. He missed more than 300 classes because he refused to participate.

🔹 13-year-old Olesia, whose mother was summoned to the local administration and ordered to send her daughter to a Russian school — even though the route was dangerous due to Russian drones. “Military police” repeatedly came to their home, accused the mother of helping Ukrainian forces, and threatened to take her “to the basement.”

All rescued children are now staying at the Hope and Recovery Centers, where they receive psychological care, assistance with documents, safe housing, and everyday support — everything they need to regain a sense of security and begin dreaming again.

Thanks to Save Ukraine, more than 1000 children have already been brought home from occupation. But thousands are still waiting for their chance to return.