Eight Ukrainian kids return after first lady talks with Putin

First lady Melania Trump on Friday revealed she has had open lines of communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss abducted Ukrainian children. In an announcement from the White House, she said that over the past three months, Russian and U.S. teams have used back channels to ensure the safety and eventual return of Ukrainian children in Russian territory. In the past 24 hours, the first lady said that eight children have been returned to Ukraine. The U.S. government also received independent reports confirming the children’s identities and health statuses. Melania said plans are underway to unify more Ukrainian children with their families in the near future.

How did the first lady pull this off? She sent a letter to Putin, which Trump hand-delivered during talks with the leader in Alaska in August. After that, representatives from both sides began indirect talks. On Friday, she said three of the eight children had been displaced to Russia due to frontline fighting. The other five were separated from their families. She said Russia has indicated more willingness to discuss the issue and provided detailed reports, including photos and medical records, of each of the 8 children. Additionally, Trump said that Russia has agreed to return individuals who were removed to Russia as minors but have since turned 18.

Why are Ukrainian children in Russia? Even before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Ukrainian children were forcibly removed to so-called summer camps in Russian territory and were never sent home. After the war started, Russian troops took more children from the battlefields. Russia has systematically altered names and birth dates and put children up for adoption, in violation of UN war conventions, according to tracking from the Yale Humanitarian Research Laboratory. Between 19,000-35,000 children have been unaccounted for, according to the laboratory. 

Dig deeper: Listen to my report on The World and Everything in It about advocates pressing for the Trump administration to address the abductions.