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Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n Eight Ukrainian children who were kidnapped from their families and held captive in Russia have been returned to Ukraine after back-channel negotiations between First Lady Melania Trump and Russian representatives, the First Lady said on Friday.<\/p>\n Ms Trump, a former model who was born in what is now Slovenia when that country was part of the former Yugoslavia, made the stunning announcement in the Grand Foyer of the White House. She told reporters \u201cmuch [had] unfolded\u201d since she sent a letter in August to Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the fate of the thousands of children who\u2019ve been taken to Russia after being seized by Russian forces during the attempted invasion of Ukraine. <\/p>\n She said Putin had responded in writing to signal a \u201cwillingness to engage\u201d with the First Lady \u201cdirectly\u201d and provided her with \u201cdetails regarding the Ukrainian children residing in Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSince then, President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication regarding the welfare of these children,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Ms Trump also told reporters that \u201cboth sides\u201d of the talks had participated in \u201cseveral back channel meetings and calls\u201d and had \u201cagreed to cooperate with each other for the benefit of all people involved in this war.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, she said her \u201crepresentative\u201d had been \u201cworking directly with President Putin’s team to ensure the safe reunification of children with their families between Russia and Ukraine,\u201d starting with eight such children who have been \u201crejoined with their families\u201d over the last 24 hours. <\/p>\n Of those eight, Ms Trump said three had been \u201cseparated from their parents and displaced to the Russian Federation because of frontline fighting\u201d while the other five had been \u201cseparated from family members across borders because of the conflict,\u201d with one of the five children being a Russian girl who was repatriated to Russia. <\/p>\n Although the First Lady described the children as having been \u201cseparated from their parents\u201d because of \u201cfrontline fighting\u201d as if by accident, Ukrainian officials and human rights groups have documented evidence that Russian forces have actively seized Ukrainian children and forcibly deported them to Russia. <\/p>\n While the exact number of missing children remains unclear, the Institute for the Study of War reported<\/a> in March Ukraine verified nearly 19,500 children have been deported by Russia. But the research non-profit said, \u201cThe true figure is likely to be much higher because Russia frequently targets vulnerable children without anyone to speak for them.\u201d<\/p>\n