Ukraine-Russia war: 11 more Ukrainian children illegally held by Russia return home

Eleven Ukrainian children — including two-year-old twins — have been reunited with their families after being held in Russia. See the photos.

Eleven Ukrainian children crossed the border from Belarus to Ukraine, in the latest return of children taken to Russia and occupied territories during the nearly two-year Ukraine war.

Emerging from the darkness at a humanitarian crossing on the Belarus border, the children hugged family members who had been waiting for more than six hours.

Oleksandr, 16, is the oldest among those returned by Moscow through a Qatar-mediated scheme.

Oleksandr (L), 16, who was kept at a state boarding school in Russian-occupied Lugansk, hugs his aunt Viktoria, 47, after he crossed the border from Belarus to Ukraine. Picture: AFP

“My new life is starting,” he said, smiling shyly and describing the “joy and slight nerves”.

The children were received by the Qatari embassy in Moscow on Monday before travelling to Belarus and walking across the one-kilometre border zone - while some relatives were able to meet the children directly in Moscow.

Two critically ill children were brought over in an ambulance and rushed to hospital.

Ukraine estimates 20,000 children have been forced to Russia since the war erupted in February 2022.

Eleven Ukrainian children crossed the border from Belarus to Ukraine, in the latest return of children taken to Russia and occupied territories during the nearly two-year Ukraine war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called the action “a genocide”. Russia denies the accusations.

The group of children is the fourth and largest to have been returned with Qatar’s help and included some as young as two, Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets told AFP at the border.

“Believe me, we will bring them all back,” Lubinets assured the waiting relatives.

Oleksandr’s aunt Viktoria, 47, had not seen him since the war broke out.

She unsuccessfully tried to collect her nephew three times and only managed to speak to him on the phone recently.

Officials in Russian-occupied Lugansk sent him to a state boarding school, similar to a children’s home, where they took away his documents and “psychologically pressured him to stop him leaving”, she said.

Family members waited up to six hours before reuniting with the children.

“Our situation seemed deadlocked.”

Oleksandr was sent to the school after his mother and older brother, 21, were killed by shelling of their car as they tried to flee the Lugansk region in July 2022.

Sometimes Oleksandr dreams of his mother screaming as she died, his aunt added. Now she plans to take her nephew to live with her in Zhytomyr near Kyiv.

“We will celebrate and show him the city.”

Computer developer Sergiy, 36, from Kyiv, also pulled his niece and nephew into a tight embrace as he collected them at the border.

After their parents died, Lev, 13, and Zhazmin, 10, lived with a distant relative in their home city of Russian-occupied Mariupol.

The relative moved them to the suburbs of Moscow as Mariupol became a fierce battlefield in the spring of 2022, before later returning to the Ukrainian city.

The group of children is the fourth and largest to have been returned with Qatar’s help

The relative “had no desire to take care of the children” so she tried to put them in a state children’s home, Sergiy said.

“I thought it was almost impossible to get the kids back.”

Smiling, Sergiy said he was ready to become a father of two, having no children himself.

Children reunite with family members after being held in Russian-occupied territories.

“I will try to show them what it is like when they are needed and

The deal to bring the children home was negotiated with Qatar.

when someone can properly care of and support them.”

Another mother, who wished to remain anonymous, collected her 13-year-old son after she was held prisoner in Mariupol.

MAJOR SETBACK FOR US REPORTER HELD IN RUSSIA

A Moscow court has ruled jailed US journalist Evan Gershkovich would remain in pre-trial detention until at least March 30, ensuring he will spend at least a year behind bars in a Russian jail.

Russian prosecutors have charged Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich with espionage - the first time such a criminal accusation has been levelled against a Western reporter in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Gershkovich, his employers and the White House all reject the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.

“Gershkovich will remain in custody until March 30, 2024,” the Moscow courts service said in a statement on Tuesday following a hearing at the Moscow City Court.

US journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, looks out from inside a defendants' cage before a hearing to consider an appeal on his extended pre-trial detention. Picture: AFP

The appeal was a technical challenge against an earlier decision to extend Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention. It did not concern the substance of the case.

His shock arrest by FSB counterintelligence agents in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg last March while on a reporting trip triggered uproar in Washington.

And the United States has slammed the Kremlin over his ongoing detention, which will hit the one-year mark on March 29.

“The charges against Evan are baseless. The Russian government has locked Evan up simply for reporting news,” US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy, who attended the hearing, said outside the court Tuesday.

President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month he would like to see Gershkovich released as part of a prisoner exchange.

Gershkovich was detained last last March on spying charges during a reporting trip to the Urals. Picture: AFP

In remarks to conservative American TV commentator Tucker Carlson, he said talks between Russia and the United States about a possible swap were ongoing.

The Russian leader made clear he wanted any deal to involve the release of a Russian jailed in Germany for killing a Chechen dissident.

Washington has accused Moscow of arresting American citizens on baseless charges to use them as “bargaining chips” to secure the release of Russians convicted abroad.

Former US marine Paul Whelan, in prison in Russia since 2018 and serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges, is also pushing to be included in any future prisoner exchange.

“The United States will not rest until Evan and Paul are free and back home in the United States with their families,” Tracy said.

Separately on Tuesday, Russia’s FSB security service said it had arrested a 33-year-old dual US-Russian citizen in Yekaterinburg - the same city where Gershkovich was arrested - on suspicion of treason.

It said the woman, a Los Angeles resident, had been helping Ukrainian organisations collect funds “to purchase tactical medical items, equipment, means of destruction and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces”.

The supreme court of Russia’s Tatarstan region also rejected an appeal on Tuesday by jailed US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to be transferred from pre-trial detention to house arrest, her employers reported.

Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) editor who lives in Prague, had her passports confiscated and was arrested in October while back in Russia for a family emergency.

UKRAINE WAR ENTERS THIRD YEAR, FRONTLINES ‘DIFFICULT’

Ukrainian troops, reeling from the loss of a key town, now face “extremely difficult” conditions all along the frontline with Russia because of delayed foreign aid, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

A heightened Russian offensive in eastern and southern Ukraine saw them capture the key town of Avdiivka last week in a major boost ahead of the second anniversary of the February 2022 invasion.

The Ukrainian military also says it is critically short of ammunition and shells, worsened by the holdup of a $60 billion US aid package.

“The situation is extremely difficult in several parts of the front line, where Russian troops have concentrated maximum reserves,” Mr Zelenskyy said on Monday after visiting frontline troops in the Kharkiv region.

Fire and burnt-out cars are seen after a missile strike in Kyiv amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Pictrue: AFP

Ukrainian military paramedics evacuate a wounded serviceman from the frontline. Picture: AFP

Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal believes the US will continue to support Ukraine. Picture: AFP

Russian troops “are taking advantage of the delays in helping Ukraine,” Mr Zelenskyy added, highlighting shortages of artillery, frontline air defence and longer-range weapons.

US President Joe Biden told Mr Zelenskyy on Sunday that he was “confident” the Republican-dominated US Congress would approve the critically needed aid.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on Tuesday he also believed Congress would come through after it returned from recess and that his country would “continue our fight” with international support.

“I believe the United States will support Ukraine also, like the European Union, like Japan, like all the G7 countries and the IMF and all international financial organisations,” Mr Shmygal told a press conference in Tokyo when asked about “Ukraine fatigue” in the international community.

“So we can’t speak about fatigue, because it’s an existential war - you can’t be fatigued when you’re fighting for your future, for your life... for global security order,” he said.

CLINTON WARNS TRUMP WILL PULL U.S. FROM NATO

Hillary Clinton has warned former President Donald Trump will pull the US out of NATO if he gets back into the White House.

“He will do everything he can to become an absolute authoritarian leader if given the opportunity to do so,” the former Secretary of State said at the Munich Security Conference.

She continued: “And he will pull us out of NATO.”

Mr Trump said he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines on defence at a rally in Conway, South Carolina earlier this month.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton moderates the nightcap session "Rebels With a Cause: Voices of Civil Resistance" at the 2024 Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany. Picture: Getty Images

“NATO was busted until I came along,” Mr Trump told his supporters.
“I said, ‘Everybody’s gonna pay.’ They said, ‘Well, if we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer.”

Mr Trump said “one of the presidents of a big country” at one point asked him whether the US would still defend the country if they were invaded by Russia even if they “don’t pay.”

“No, I would not protect you,” Mr Trump recalled telling that president.
“In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”

US LEADERS QUARREL OVER FOREIGN AID

US aid for Ukraine is in limbo as a major foreign aid bill faces an uncertain future in US Congress, even as Vladimir Putin’s agenda seems to strengthen with the death of a dissident and a fatal missile strike on a Ukraine maternity ward.

The US Army has been left to foot the bill for hundreds of millions of dollars in support for Ukraine’s defence against Russia to the tune of $US430 million ($A658 million) according to CNN.

A local resident walks past a crater and a damaged residential building following a recent aerial bombardment in Kupiansk, Kharkiv region. Picture: AFP

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has demanded Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans pass the foreign aid bill as a matter of urgency following the suspicious death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, saying Putin “is watching.”

“Last week, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the national security supplemental, and I urged the House and Speaker Johnson to act — but now — with the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s political foe, Alexei Navalny, an urgent alarm bell now rings,” Schumer said in a statement.

US Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer urged fellow politicians to pass the foreign aid bill to help Ukraine. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

Schumer’s statement follows US President Joe Biden’s weekend call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which Ukraine’s loss of the key town of Avdiivka to the Russians was linked to US Congress’ inability to pass further aid.

The languishing foreign aid bill includes $US60bn ($A92bn) to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

Mr Biden on Friday criticised House politicians for taking a two-week break, calling it “outrageous” and telling reporters it’s “about time they step up” following the death of Mr Navalny.

Mr Zelenskyy added his perspective at the Munich Security Conference: “Please, everyone, remember that dictators do not go on vacation. Hatred knows no pause. Enemy artillery does not fall silent due to procedural issues.”

State Emergency Service of Ukraine and medical staff evacuate a maternity hospital destroyed by a Russian missile attack in the town of Selydove, Donetsk region. Picture: AFP

‘TEARS, NIGHTMARE, FEAR’

Ukrainians fear more attacks like the Russian missile strike that tore into a maternity ward last week, sparking a frantic evacuation of dozens of patients in the dead of night.

Days after the strike in the town of Selydove that killed a 36-year-old pregnant woman, a mother and her nine-year-old son, Olena Obodets rushed to the hospital in east Ukraine and saw its caved-in roof and building on fire.

“Tears. Nightmare. Fear,” she said of her reaction.

The bombardment was just one horror in a months-long Russian onslaught that saw Mr Putin’s forces capture the industrial hub of Avdiivka.

Apart from handing Moscow its first significant victory in nearly a year, the advances have renewed an agonising choice for Ukrainians in places like Selydove that could be next: flee now, or hope their struggling army can save them.

“People are afraid. My daughter asks me every day – every day – to evacuate, but I tell her the time hasn’t yet come,” said Obedets, who has worked at the hospital for eight years.

RUSSIA’S DIRE THREAT TO WEST

The Kremlin has threatened to fire nuclear missiles on London, Washington D.C., Berlin and Kyiv if Russia is pressured to give up the Ukrainian territory it has invaded.

Dmitry Medvedev, who served as Russian president from 2008 to 2012 and is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, said if a military defeat of Russia in Ukraine was forced, Moscow would unleash Armageddon.

“Attempts to return Russia to the borders of 1991 will lead to only one thing,” Mr Medvedev told The Sun.

“Towards a global war with Western countries using the entire strategic arsenal of our state. In Kyiv, Berlin, London, Washington,” he said on Telegram.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who said Russia will use nuclear strikes on the West if it is forced to give up Ukraine. Picture: AFP

Hypersonic nuclear missiles would also strike “all other beautiful historical places that have long been included in the flight targets of our nuclear triad.

“Will we have the courage to do this if the disappearance of a thousand-year-old country, our great Motherland, is at stake, and the sacrifices made by the people of Russia over the centuries will be in vain? The answer is obvious.”

The alternative is simple, he suggested: Let Putin have the parts of Ukraine he believes to be Russian.

“It’s better to return everything [to us] before it’s too late. Or we will return it ourselves with maximum losses for the enemy. Like in Avdiivka. Our warriors are heroes!”

Smoke rising from the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant behind the village of Lastochkino, in Avdiivka district, Ukraine. Russia recently captured the area. Picture: Getty Images

Medvedev, currently deputy head of the Russian security council, lashed out at his Western counterparts, slamming British and German defence ministers Grant Shapps and Boris Pistorius were “a**holes” who believe the world cannot afford a Russian victory in the war, he said on his Telegram channel.

“Do these idiots really believe that the people of Russia will swallow such a division of their country?”

“The West should not think that in such a scenario the leadership of Russia will ‘tremble in its hand’ in pushing the nuclear button.”

UKRAINE RETREATS FROM BESIEGED TOWN

Ukraine withdrew troops from the besieged eastern stronghold of Avdiivka to save the lives of its soldiers, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday, handing Russia its biggest symbolic victory since May.

The pullback comes after Russian forces stepped up efforts to capture the eastern industrial hub in October, leading to mass casualties and destruction.

Facing ammunition shortages and outnumbered on the battlefield, Ukrainian forces announced they had withdrawn in the early hours of Saturday.

“The ability to save our people is the most important task for us,” Mr Zelenskyy told a security conference in Munich, explaining the move.

“In order to avoid being surrounded, it was decided to withdraw to other lines. This does not mean that people retreated some kilometres and Russia captured something, it did not capture anything,” he also said.

Oleksandr Syrskyi (left) was appointed commander in chief on February 8. Picture: AFP

This echoed earlier statements from the newly-appointed commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said he “decided to withdraw our units from the city and switch to defence on more favourable lines.”

“The life of military personnel is the highest value,” MT Syrskyi said.

It was Mr Syrskyi’s first major decision since his appointment, at a time when Ukraine faces mounting pressures in the east because of ammunition shortages, with a $US60 billion ($A92bn) US military aid package held up in Washington.

Local soldiers have been fending off Russian forces for four months, despite being vastly outnumbered and constantly worried about running out of ammunition.

The industrial town has now been almost completely flattened.

This development marks the biggest change on the front line — which stretches more than 1000km — since May 2023, when Russian troops seized the town of Bakhmut.

General Syrskyi has only held the job for a couple of days.

Destroyed buildings in a city in the Avdiivka district, which has been surrounded by Russian troops. Picture: Getty Images

The development comes a day after Mr Zelenskyy headed for Berlin and Paris in a new bid to secure desperately needed military aid.

Mr Zelenskyy said before leaving that his government would do “everything” to save lives in the symbolic city, surrounded on three sides by Russian forces.

Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, a general overseeing the battle in the eastern part of the country, called the situation in Avdiivka “difficult but controlled”.

However, Ukraine’s retreat marks a significant symbolic victory for Russia ahead of anniversary of the invasion on February 24.

CIVILIANS EVACUATED

A Ukrainian army spokesman said the “complicated” operation of bringing in supplies and evacuating the few hundred civilians who remained had started.

Mr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was sending as much support as possible to the region.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure that our warriors have enough managerial and technological capabilities to save as many Ukrainian lives as possible,” he said.

The Russian army is advancing on the flanks of Avdiivka, firing non-stop artillery, shelling the city with guided aerial bombs (FAB-500). Picture: Getty Images

He is also currently wrangling the US Congress over a multibillion-dollar aid package.

The battle for Avdiivka has been one of the bloodiest of the conflict.

Many compare it to the battle for Bakhmut, in which tens of thousands of soldiers were killed.

Punching through Ukraine’s stretched defences at Avdiivka would be the most significant territorial gain for Moscow since it seized Bakhmut last May.

Local residents carry their belongings from a house destroyed by a Russian missile in Chuhuyiv, Kharkiv region. Picture: AFP

Ukrainian leaders have highlighted the increasingly difficult situation on eastern front lines because of ammunition shortages and fresh Russian attacks.

On top of the US blockage, the European Union has admitted that it will only be able to send half of the one million artillery shells it promised by March.