Princess Anne, sister of the King of the United Kingdom, made an unannounced visit to Kyiv, where she met with the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska. During her stay in the Ukrainian capital, the royal family representative participated in honoring the memory of Ukrainian children who have lost their lives.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Honoring the Memory of Fallen Children
Together with the President’s Advisor for Children’s Rights, Daria Gerasimchuk, Olena Zelenska and Princess Anne visited the “Martyrlog” — a memorial dedicated to children who have become victims of Russia’s military aggression.
“Yesterday, together with Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and with Daria Gerasimchuk, the President of Ukraine’s Advisor for Children’s Rights, we came to the ‘Martyrlog’ — a place to honor the memory of Ukrainian children killed by Russia”
According to the First Lady, at least 657 Ukrainian children have died as a result of Russian aggression. Just recently, during a morning shelling in Kyiv, 12-year-old Oleksandra was killed, and in Sumy region, Russian drones took the lives of two brothers — four-year-old Denys and six-year-old Yegor — along with their parents.
Meeting with Children Who Experienced Occupation
Olena Zelenska reported that she met with Ukrainian children who experienced occupation alongside Princess Anne. Among them were 12-year-old Sashko from Mariupol, whose mother remains in captivity; a 17-year-old girl who managed to return from a Russian “children’s camp”; and a girl from the occupied territory who could only leave after reaching adulthood.
According to official data, 1,645 Ukrainian children have been returned from the Russian Federation, but the fight for the liberation of others continues. The international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children unites 42 countries, the Council of Europe, and the European Union. The United Kingdom actively supports the Bring Kids Back UA initiative aimed at developing mechanisms for the return of deported children.
During the visit to the Child Rights Protection Center, Princess Anne and Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets spoke with children who have returned from captivity, including Sashko, Valeria, and Marta. Representatives of the “Voices of Children” fund shared information about the psychological difficulties faced by Ukrainian children after their time in Russia and the importance of reintegration programs to overcome trauma and return to peaceful life.
Olena Zelenska emphasized that Ukrainian psychologists already have significant experience in helping such children, but the main task is to do everything possible to ensure that every child has a happy and peaceful childhood.
According to official data, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, over 20,000 Ukrainian children have found themselves in occupied territories or in the Russian Federation. At the same time, estimates suggest that the number of illegally transported children could reach 200,000 to 300,000.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of committing war crimes, including forced deportations and the relocation of populations from occupied territories of Ukraine.
In response, Russian ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova stated that since the beginning of the full-scale aggression, Russia has “accepted” about 4.8 million Ukrainians, of whom over 700,000 are children. According to her, most children arrived with parents or relatives, but these claims are disputed by the Ukrainian side and the international community.