{"id":538090,"date":"2026-03-22T06:19:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T06:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/538090\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T06:19:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T06:19:17","slug":"inside-the-underground-railroad-ukraine-is-using-to-bring-back-children-from-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/538090\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the \u2018underground railroad\u2019 Ukraine is using to bring back children from Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kyiv
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Rostyslav Lavrov knew he had to escape. He was stuck at a Russian naval academy in occupied Crimea<\/a>, where he was sent at the age of 16 after Moscow\u2019s forces took over his hometown in Ukraine\u2019s Kherson region. The school had even tried to give him a new \u2013 Russian \u2013 birth certificate to cement his transformation into a Russian.\n <\/p>\n

\n He was determined not to let that happen. So, one day in October 2023, Lavrov said he walked out of his dorm, and embarked on a secret journey back to Ukraine.\n <\/p>\n

\n Now 19 years old and living in Kyiv, Lavrov is one of the roughly 2,000 Ukrainian children and teenagers who have returned to their home country afterbeing either forcibly deported, illegally transferred to or stuck in Russia, Belarus or Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.\n <\/p>\n

\n Many of them, like Lavrov, had to leave clandestinely because getting out with Russian permission is nearly impossible.\n <\/p>\n

\n Ukraine has rallied the world on the issue, building international coalitions to try to push Russia to cooperate. But its success has been limited. Less than a quarter of the 2,000 children who have returned so far came back came through official channels: 83 with the help of Qatar and 19 through a scheme spearheaded by US first lady Melania Trump.\n <\/p>\n

\n Lavrov\u2019s escape plan had been in the works for three months when he finally walked through the gates of the Russian school for the last time.\n <\/p>\n

\n He had secretly managed to contact volunteers from Save Ukraine, a group that rescues children trapped in Russia and Russian-occupied territories. They set to work, arranging his way out.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI chose a day when I had (classes) in another building. I got up in the morning, put on my uniform and did everything as normal so they would think I was going to study,\u201d he told CNN, adding that Save Ukraine volunteers were waiting to pick him up at a nearby location.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI didn\u2019t take anything with me to avoid drawing attention to myself. I was nervous at the checkpoints, but I tried to stay calm and not show it.\u201d He isn\u2019t sure exactly how long it took him to make it to Ukrainian-held territory but estimates two days. He discovered later that the journey was perhaps even riskier than he thought \u2013 the Russian authorities had declared him \u201cmissing and wanted.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Mykola Kuleba, the founder of Save Ukraine and Ukraine\u2019s former children\u2019s ombudsman, said Lavrov\u2019s escape was not unusual in nature.\n <\/p>\n

\"Save<\/p>\n

\"Photos<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a special operation for every child,\u201d he said, asking CNN not to reveal too many details to avoid putting anyone at risk. \u201cWe don\u2019t work with the Russian authorities or any officials in occupied territories, because it\u2019s really dangerous,\u201d he said, explaining that, in his experience, giving them any information leads to complications. Once Moscow knows Ukraine wants a particular child, it will do anything it can to prevent them from returning, he claimed.\n <\/p>\n

\n Yulia Dvornychenko experienced this kind of alleged Russian obstruction firsthand.\n <\/p>\n

\n She was separated from her sons, Danylo, then 17, and Mark, 9, when she was arrested in 2021 at her home in Torez, an eastern Ukrainian town occupied by pro-Russia separatists since 2014. Accused of being a Ukrainian spy. She is a widow, and her new partner was arrested alongside her, so she was told that her children would be sent to a Russian orphanage unless she signed a false confession \u2013 which she did.\n <\/p>\n

\n Eighteen months later, she was released in a prisoner of war (POW) exchange. Mark was still in Torez, living with a family friend, and Danylo lying low in Moscow, where he fled from Torez when it became clear he was at high risk of being drafted into the Russian army.\n <\/p>\n

\n Once in a government-controlled area of Ukraine, Dvornychenko immediately started working on getting them back, getting help from the Ukrainian government.\n <\/p>\n

\n Russian authorities first told her Mark, now 11, would be returned in a POW exchange. She tried to reassure him, saying not to get scared if the Russians tied his hands and blindfolded him. \u201cI told him it meant he was coming home. I knew what happens during those (exchanges),\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n

\"Yulia<\/p>\n

\"Danylo<\/p>\n

\n She spent a week waiting at the exchange location in the southern Zaporizhzhia region \u2013 but Mark did not show up. The office of the Russian Commissioner for Human Rights then introduced new conditions for his return, asking for Dvornychenko to come and pick him up personally \u2013 an option rejected by Ukraine, given the risk of her being rearrested.\n <\/p>\n

\n Eventually, Dvornychenko said, \u201cthe only option was for Danylo to go to Torez and pick up Mark, but for that, we had to gather a bunch of documents\u2026 And we did all that. We faked it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Dvornychenko was reunited with two boys almost two years after that chaotic night of her arrest. \u201cThey weren\u2019t the children I remembered. Mark had grown up a lot, Danylo had a beard, he was already a grown man. It was both joyful and sad. Sad because time had been lost,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN has asked the office of Russia\u2019s Commissioner for Children\u2019s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova,<\/a> for a comment.\n <\/p>\n

\n Kuleba said that Save Ukraine\u2019s covert approach to bringing children back is sometimes criticized by international organizations, which say an official mechanism between Kyiv and Moscow is needed.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe have been waiting for an official mechanism for years\u2026 so we have to do it unofficially,\u201d he said. \u201cWe built an underground railroad to find and rescue these kids.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n As of the end of February, the group had brought back 1,162 Ukrainian children.\n <\/p>\n

\n Darya Kasyanova, one of Ukraine\u2019s leading children\u2019s rights advocates and the chair of the Ukrainian Child Rights Network, said working with international organizations can be tricky, \u201cbecause there are a lot of standards, a lot of limitations and challenges.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Both she and Kuleba argue that some international standards \u2013 such as the need to interview each child and establish their best interests before returning them to Ukraine \u2013 are simply unworkable given the circumstances.\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\"Mark<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt can be dangerous for these children because, in most cases, these children are really traumatized, many have been abused, including sexual abuse, which is why we are sure that it should be done only after returning (to Ukraine) or when the child reaches a safe third country,\u201d Kasyanova said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Like Kuleba, Kasyanova runs a group of volunteers focused on returning Ukrainian children from Russia and occupied territory.\n <\/p>\n

\n Speaking to CNN last month, she was waiting for news about an operation to bring back two Ukrainian girls from Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia. She said each mission is a balancing act between achieving the child\u2019s return and ensuring the safety of the volunteers who accompany each minor, since it\u2019s become too risky for parents to travel there.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt can be dangerous for the child and for our team,\u201d she said. Hours after speaking with CNN, Kasyanova sent an update. The two girls rescued from Crimea had safely crossed the border. The number of children her team had returned now stood at 341.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Ukrainian government has identified 20,000 children it says have been forcibly deported or illegally transferred to Russia, Belarus or Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. Many have been funneled into reeducation camps or adopted by Russian families.\n <\/p>\n

\n Moscow has publicly acknowledged the transfers, Lvova-Belova openly boasting about them and claiming Russia was \u201crescuing\u201d orphans from Ukraine. In 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC)<\/a> issued an arrest warrant for Lvova-Belova and Russian President Vladimir Putin for their alleged role in the scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia. The Kremlin rejected the ICC\u2019s actions as \u201coutrageous and unacceptable.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The 20,000 figure includes only the children Ukraine knows about \u2013 and Save Ukraine continues to identify new cases of children abducted into Russia.\n <\/p>\n

\"Passports,<\/p>\n

\n Many were taken from orphanages or residential schools in the chaos of the early days of the full-scale invasion and some have no living relatives who would be searching for them.\n <\/p>\n

\n Save Ukraine\u2019s 30-strong team is using all available tools to try to find them, from interviewing children who\u2019ve returned about others they might have met in Russia, to using open-source intelligence techniques and social media campaigns on YouTube and TikTok. The team is even trying to connect with children inside online video games, Kuleba said.\n <\/p>\n

\n But he admitted they are finding it increasingly hard to convince the abducted children that their home is in Ukraine. Four years is a long time \u2013 especially for the youngest.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThese kids are growing up and being poisoned by propaganda. Many of them have been brainwashed, and it\u2019s really hard to convince them that no, there are no Nazis in Ukraine,\u201d he said, referring to Putin\u2019s false claim that neo-Nazis run its government.\n <\/p>\n

\n According to Ukraine\u2019s ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, more than 1.6 million Ukrainian children live in areas under Russian occupation and are forced to attend Russian schools which he described as \u201cindoctrination machines.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Taras<\/p>\n

\n Taras, a 19-year-old from a Ukrainian village currently occupied by Russia, had been in government-controlled Ukraine for a week when CNN met with him. Because most of his large family is still living under occupation, he asked CNN to use a pseudonym, choosing Taras after the 19th-century Ukrainian hero Taras Shevchenko.\n <\/p>\n

\n He told CNN that younger children and teenagers in occupied Ukraine face Russian indoctrination every day and are being prepared for future military service. \u201cChildren are now given automatic weapons to take apart and reassemble. In school, they dress them (in uniforms), make them run and do training,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe (Russians) are specifically targeting those who did not take Russian passports and did not send their children to school. If a child does not go to school, they take him or her to a Russian children\u2019s colony,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n His family, who have a farm, couldn\u2019t afford to flee when Russia first took over their village. \u201cThey confiscated our car, our only means of earning money, because we sell potatoes at the markets. My sister became distraught and started crying when one of the soldiers wanted to \u2018get to know\u2019 her,\u201d Taras told CNN, adding that the soldier became aggressive when she rejected him.\n <\/p>\n

\n When it became obvious Taras and his brothers were at risk of being drafted by the Russian military, the family decided they had to leave.\n <\/p>\n

\n Just before Christmas, with the help of Save Ukraine, they managed to get Taras\u2019 older brother out. In February, it was time for Taras to go. He had been waiting for days to hear from the volunteers and, when he finally got the call that they were coming to pick him up, he was ready within minutes.\n <\/p>\n

\n As with Lavrov, Taras\u2019 journey out was perilous, involving some deception and a huge amount of courage. He had a cover story he repeated at every checkpoint: a new job in Russia.\n <\/p>\n

\n After three days, he made it. Save Ukraine volunteers were waiting for him at the border. They gave him a Ukrainian flag in which he immediately wrapped himself. He swore he\u2019d keep it forever. \u201cThe sun was shining and I sent a message to my mum: \u2018That\u2019s it, mum, I\u2019m home,\u2019\u201d he told CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n Inside Save Ukraine\u2019s office in Kyiv is a large stack of these Ukrainian flags \u2013 ready for the children who\u2019ll be rescued next. Taras is hoping his siblings who are still in occupied Ukraine will soon get one of them. Save Ukraine is working on that.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kyiv \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 Rostyslav Lavrov knew he had to escape. He was stuck at a Russian naval academy in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":["post-538090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}