Ukrainian children brought back from Russia-controlled regions

Thirty-one children have been brought back to Ukraine after being illegally taken to Russia from territories occupied by Moscow, a charity said Saturday.

"Today we are welcoming home 31 more children who have been illegally taken by Russians from occupied territories," Mykola Kuleba, head of the Save Ukraine charity, wrote on social media.

The children had been taken from the pro-Western country's northeastern region of Kharkiv and the southern region of Kherson, said Save Ukraine, which fights what it says are illegal deportations of Ukrainian children.

On Friday, the charity said the children and their relatives had crossed the border into Kyiv-controlled territory.

According to footage released Friday, the children, who carried suitcases and bags, crossed the border on foot and later boarded a bus to continue their journey.

Kuleba praised the "heroic mothers" who had travelled to retrieve their children in what he called the "most difficult" of the charity's rescue missions to date.

One elderly woman who was supposed to bring home two grandchildren had died from "stress", Kuleba added.

Writing on Facebook, he said the Ukrainian relatives had been subjected to a "13-hour interrogation" by Russia's FSB security service.

More than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia since the invasion launched on February 24, 2022, according to Kyiv, with many allegedly placed in institutions and foster homes.

Russia denies the allegations, saying instead it has saved Ukrainian children from the horrors of the war.

Last month, the International Criminal Court announced an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on the war crime accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.

The Hague-based court also issued a warrant against Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's presidential commissioner for children's rights, on similar charges.