Ukraine’s first lady demands return of kidnapped children as peace terms with Russia are considered

WASHINGTON — Illia, a two-year-old Ukrainian boy, was kidnapped by a high-ranking Russian officer for his “good looks” — only to be abandoned when his underlying health issues were uncovered.

He was never seen again.

The innocent toddler is one of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia during the war that Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, is fiercely fighting for.

Now, as a possible peace deal between Ukraine and Russia gains momentum, Zelenska wants the return of her country’s missing children to be a priority, she told The Post in an exclusive interview from Kyiv Thursday.

Ukraine has struggled to locate and repatriate the children kidnapped by Russian forces since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in 2022 — many of whom were taken from schools, orphanages, or their families during the chaos of occupation.

Ukrainian officials say at least 19,500 children remain unaccounted for, but the actual number could be far higher.

The Russian government has previously claimed far higher numbers. In 2023, Russian Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova cited 744,000 Ukrainian children as having been moved to Russia —before both she and President Vladimir Putin were indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes related to these deportations.

“For all Ukrainians, this is one of the most heartbreaking consequences of this war,” Zelenska said. “We could not protect their rights when the Russians took them — without consent, without records, without any transparency.”

Thousands of children were removed during what the Kremlin called “evacuation” procedures — but were actually forced deportations.

In some cases, entire boarding schools were emptied and the children loaded onto buses, disappearing without a trace.

Ukrainian social services scrambled to locate them, but with much of the occupied territory under Russian control, answers have been scarce.

“In the first weeks of the invasion, civilians couldn’t evacuate freely,” Zelenska said. “There were no green corridors. Anyone who tried to leave towards Ukrainian-controlled areas risked being shot, even families with children. The only direction open was towards Russia.”

Many children were also separated from their parents during so-called “filtration” procedures at controversial checkpoints where fleeing civilians were subjected to interrogations, phone checks, and even body inspections for pro-Ukrainian tattoos.

Human rights organizations have since documented several cases in which children were removed from their families during these screenings and never returned.

Although some children have been brought back — around 1,500 as of this month — Ukraine says the process is slow, dangerous and emotionally devastating.

International organizations such as the United Nations have assisted Ukraine in compiling lists of the missing, but even this process is fraught with difficulty. Russian authorities often re-register children using Russified spellings or false information, complicating identification.

“A Ukrainian child named Mykyta may be renamed Nikita in Russian documents,” Zelenska said. “Dates of birth, places of origin, even names can be altered. That’s how these children disappear.”

With peace talks now beginning to include territorial discussions, Ukrainian leaders insist that the return of these children must be a priority.

“The longer these children stay there, the faster they lose their identity, their language, and their homeland,” Zelenska said. “Time is working against us, and against them.”

Ukraine continues to call on international partners to pressure Russia to allow independent verification of the children’s locations and conditions, and to facilitate their safe return.

For now, the fate of thousands of young Ukrainians remains uncertain — caught between diplomacy, politics and the lingering fog of war.

”It’s very painful for us — for all Ukrainians and the Ukrainian state — because we were not able to ensure the rights of our children when they were violated by the Russians without their or their parents’ consent,” the first lady said.

What happens to them in Russia varies. Some have been sent to Russian military training camps and to the front lines in Ukraine to fight their own brethren for Moscow. Others are forced into labor or other servitude. 

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Even babies taken into homes to be raised as Russian children are not promised a good life.

Zelenska shared the story of Illia, who was kidnapped from the occupied Kherson region by a high-ranking Russian officer for his “good looks.”

“There is a record of high-ranking Russian officials who come to select children for themselves, looking for the better-looking children as if it were a supermarket,” she said.

“Illia’s health issue was not obvious without a medical examination — which would have happened had he not been taken illegally — but when they found out, they took him to occupied Crimea and abandoned him. We don’t know what happened to him,” she continued.

”This story demonstrates how they treat children as if they were goods or things — they are not at all interested in children’s rights, and this is why Ukraine is fighting so hard for them.”

None are allowed to speak their Ukrainian language, recognize their culture or have contact with their Ukrainian families and friends back home, she said.

The psychological effects on the children are damaging, Zelenska said. Those returned share horror stories with Ukrainian officials of beatings over their heritage and for the use of their native language.

Several have died of suicide in Russia, unable to take the oppression.

“The children who come back are subdued mentally — they’re broken,” she said. “Only after they return do they start coming back out of their shells.”

Finding children becomes nearly impossible once they are adopted by Russian families and their surnames are changed. To date, Ukraine has been unable to return any such children, Zelenska said.

Even when the children are located, it is challenging to return them to their home country.

“We have parents, grandparents and other relatives who are looking for the kids in Russia, but there is no answer to our requests for information,” she said.

“There are ways for international organizations [still working in Russia] to help, to be a mediator in these negotiations.

”If they could get information for us about these children, that would be a step forward.”