WASHINGTON — U.S. First Lady Melania Trump announced Thursday that seven additional Ukrainian children — six boys and one girl — have been safely reunited with their families in Ukraine after being forcibly taken to Russia during the ongoing war. The announcement brings to fifteen the total number of children whose return she says has been facilitated through the direct humanitarian channel she opened with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“My dedication to guaranteeing the safe return of children to their families in this region is unwavering,” the first lady said in a written statement released by the White House. “I commend the leadership and persistent diplomacy of Russia and Ukraine in the pursuit of the reunification of children and families. Their bridge-building has created a tangible collaborative environment — an anchor for optimism. This cooperation will continue to drive the process forward through the next phase.”
She added that she and her personal representative had provided humanitarian support from the United States to strengthen the initiative and expressed hope that the effort would ultimately contribute to “broader regional stability.”
The breakthrough stems from a highly unusual personal diplomatic initiative Mrs. Trump launched in August 2025. On August 15, President Donald Trump hand-delivered a handwritten letter from the first lady to President Putin during their summit in Anchorage, Alaska. In the letter, Mrs. Trump appealed to Putin as a fellow parent, urging him to help restore “the melodic laughter” of children caught in the conflict.
Putin responded in writing, opening what the first lady has described as an “open channel of communication” focused exclusively on the welfare of Ukrainian children in Russia. In October, she publicly revealed that eight children had been returned within 24 hours of her initial announcement — three who had been separated from their parents on the front lines and taken to Russia, and five others living across borders, including one girl returned from Ukraine to her family in Russia.
Thursday’s update marks the second group whose repatriation Mrs. Trump has personally confirmed. All fifteen children, she said, were verified through U.S. channels before and after their return.
Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska has repeatedly expressed gratitude for Mrs. Trump’s involvement. After the Alaska summit, Zelenska sent a personal thank-you note that President Zelenskyy delivered to President Trump during an Oval Office meeting on August 18. In September, the two first ladies met on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York, where Zelenska again thanked Mrs. Trump for drawing global attention to “one of the most painful issues of this war — the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia.”
Ukraine’s official “Children of War” database lists 19,546 verified cases of minors forcibly deported or transferred to Russia or Russian-occupied territory since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Independent estimates, including from Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, suggest the true number may exceed 35,000 when undocumented transfers are included. The United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and numerous human rights organizations have described the systematic removal of children as a potential war crime and, in some cases, an act of genocide aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity.
Only about 1,600 children have been brought home through all channels combined — a fraction of those still missing. Many have been placed in Russian foster families, given new Russian names, enrolled in “patriotic education” camps, or sent for adoption. The ICC issued arrest warrants in 2023 for President Putin and Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for their roles in the deportations.
Despite the modest numbers, Mrs. Trump’s quiet diplomacy has produced the only publicly acknowledged instances of direct cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv on child returns since the war began. Ukrainian officials, while welcoming every repatriation, stress that the process must be dramatically scaled up and that no child should remain in Russia against their or their legal guardians’ will.
Human rights advocates have offered cautious praise for the returns while warning that the initiative should not be used to normalize relations with Moscow without accountability for the broader crime. The UN General Assembly, in a resolution adopted December 3, demanded the “immediate, safe and unconditional return” of all Ukrainian children and condemned Russia’s actions.
For the families of the fifteen children now home, however, the first lady’s intervention has meant the difference between despair and reunion. As Mrs. Trump wrote in her original letter to President Putin, “Every child shares the same quiet dreams in their heart… They dream of love, possibility, and safety from danger.” Thursday’s announcement offered a rare moment of tangible hope that, for at least a few more of those children, the dream has come true.
