Every child saved and returned to their family is, of course, a cause for celebration, but let’s not be fooled by Kremlin photo-ops. This is a cynical ploy by Vladimir Putin to present the Russian government as misunderstood; as the sort of people you can negotiate with.
Two weeks ago, Ukraine’s Centre for National Resistance, which supports the Ukrainian underground in the territories occupied by Russia, warned western journalists of upcoming well-financed efforts to whitewash Maria Lvova Belova, [Russia’s ghoulishly-titled ‘Children’s Rights Ombudswoman’](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/19/maria-lvova-belova-adopted-mariupol-boy-philip-golovnya/), who is accused by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.
While we celebrate the return of four children, it is vital we do not forget the other *20,000* children Kyiv says are held captive by Russia – [kidnapped from the razed cities and towns of east Ukraine](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/09/ukrainian-children-stolen-russia-violence-un/), from orphanages, and from institutions for children with mental and/or physical disabilities.
Some were separated from their parents during the fighting, others were orphaned due to Russia’s invasion. Still others, known as ‘children of the state’, were already orphans, or lacked any relatives capable of taking care of them.
Some brave Ukrainian parents have managed to reclaim their children through terrifying visits into Russia, crossing filtration camps and war zones. Yet while it is tempting to linger on the joy a child must feel when a parent or grandmother comes to wake them up from their nightmare, such cases are outliers – according to the Ukrainian government, only 400 children have been returned that way.
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**From The Telegraph’s Jade McGlynn:**
Four Ukrainian children who were taken to Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine [are to be returned to their families](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/16/russia-returns-ukrainian-children-deal-brokered-qatar/) as part of a deal brokered by Qatar after months of “secret talks”.
Every child saved and returned to their family is, of course, a cause for celebration, but let’s not be fooled by Kremlin photo-ops. This is a cynical ploy by Vladimir Putin to present the Russian government as misunderstood; as the sort of people you can negotiate with.
Two weeks ago, Ukraine’s Centre for National Resistance, which supports the Ukrainian underground in the territories occupied by Russia, warned western journalists of upcoming well-financed efforts to whitewash Maria Lvova Belova, [Russia’s ghoulishly-titled ‘Children’s Rights Ombudswoman’](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/19/maria-lvova-belova-adopted-mariupol-boy-philip-golovnya/), who is accused by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.
While we celebrate the return of four children, it is vital we do not forget the other *20,000* children Kyiv says are held captive by Russia – [kidnapped from the razed cities and towns of east Ukraine](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/09/ukrainian-children-stolen-russia-violence-un/), from orphanages, and from institutions for children with mental and/or physical disabilities.
Some were separated from their parents during the fighting, others were orphaned due to Russia’s invasion. Still others, known as ‘children of the state’, were already orphans, or lacked any relatives capable of taking care of them.
Some brave Ukrainian parents have managed to reclaim their children through terrifying visits into Russia, crossing filtration camps and war zones. Yet while it is tempting to linger on the joy a child must feel when a parent or grandmother comes to wake them up from their nightmare, such cases are outliers – according to the Ukrainian government, only 400 children have been returned that way.
Instead, reality calls us to contemplate the despair a child must feel to realise they are alone, [in a friendless place that wants to destroy everything they call home](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/04/09/ukraine-russia-children-abducted-crimea/), and that nobody is coming for them.
**Read the full article here:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/18/the-world-must-not-forget-vladimir-putins-child-hostages/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/18/the-world-must-not-forget-vladimir-putins-child-hostages/)