UK FRIENDS OF UKRAINE
Campaign to Return Ukraine’s Stolen Children
UK Friends of Ukraine will be holding a House of Lords reception from 6.30pm on Wednesday 23 April 2025 ito officially launch their #ReturnTheStolenChildren campaign.
This will be alongside a report and videos recorded by many people advocating for the urgent return of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
In order to finance the #ReturnTheStolenChildren campaign in terms of advocacy, events, printing costs and working with authorities to help return the stolen children, we are encouraging people to donate to the link below.
https://friendsofukraine.uk/donate
Please if you can when you donate put Return the Stolen Children as the reference and we will ensure your donation is ringfenced to the campaign.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, at least 19,546 Ukrainian children have been taken, though the
true number is likely significantly higher.
Stephen Hoffman, Deputy Director of UK Friends of Ukraine and Campaign Lead has said:
“Every stolen child is a stolen future. This campaign is about more than statistics, it’s about reuniting families, restoring identities and standing against a systematic effort to erase a nation’s next generation. We will not stop until every Ukrainian child is brought home.”
Imogen Payter, Director and Co-Founder of UK Friends of Ukraine has said:
“The abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia is one of the most heart wrenching and indefensible crimes of this war of aggression against Ukraine. These children have been torn from their homes, their families, and their identities. Through this campaign, we are sending a clear message: the UK needs to do all they can to bring these children home and we will not rest until every child is returned and those accountable for this genocide are brought to justice”
Get Involved
If you would like to learn more about the campaign and how you can support it, please email stephen@friendsofukraine.uk or contact him on his mobile of +447957294233.
Returning the stolen children report
A powerful campaign, #ReturnTheStolenChildren, has been launched with the Return The Children Now reception attended by over 250 people on 23 April 2025 and the publication of a comprehensive report on the matter, co-authored by UK Friends of Ukraine and Johanna Baxter MP.
The campaign demands urgent action to secure the return of thousands of Ukrainian children unlawfully taken by Russia. Backed by MPs, Peers, human rights leaders and international experts, the campaign exposes a vast and systematic effort by the Russian state to erase Ukrainian identity, by targeting its youngest citizens.
The report below calls for the following:
· Intensify sanctions on Russian and Belarusian officials and entities complicit in abductions;
· Demand justice through international legal bodies;
· Establish a UK National Day of Action to raise public awareness;
· Full investigation of whether these crimes meet the threshold of genocide under international humanitarian law;
Serious consideration to recognising it as a genocide.