Inside the ‘underground railroad’ Ukraine is using to bring back children from Russia

Inside the ‘underground railroad’ Ukraine is using to bring back children from Russia

Rostyslav Lavrov understood he needed to flee. At 16, he had been sent to a Russian naval academy in occupied Crimea after Moscow’s forces seized his hometown in Ukraine’s Kherson region. The school had attempted to issue him a new, Russian-issued birth certificate to solidify his assimilation into the regime. Lavrov refused to accept that identity, and in October 2023, he executed a furtive escape from the dormitory. Now 19 and residing in Kyiv, he is among the approximately 2,000 Ukrainian minors who have returned to their homeland after being forcibly deported, illegally relocated, or stranded in Russia, Belarus, or Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine.

Many of these children, including Lavrov, had to leave in secrecy due to the difficulty of securing formal exit permits from Russian authorities. Ukraine has mobilized global support to pressure Russia into cooperation, forming international alliances to address the issue. Yet progress has been slow. Less than a quarter of the returned children traversed official pathways: 83 with assistance from Qatar and 19 through a program initiated by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump.

Lavrov’s plan to return had been in motion for three months before he finally exited the Russian facility. He had covertly connected with volunteers from Save Ukraine, an organization dedicated to rescuing children trapped in Russian-occupied zones. The group swiftly arranged his departure. “I picked a day when my classes were held in a different building,” Lavrov explained to CNN. “I dressed in uniform, acted as usual, and gave the impression I was heading to study.” He added that volunteers were waiting nearby to assist his escape. “I carried nothing to avoid suspicion. I felt anxious at the checkpoints but tried to remain composed.” He estimated the journey to Ukrainian-held regions took two days, though he later learned it might have been even more perilous—Russian officials had marked him as “missing and wanted.”

Mykola Kuleba, founder of Save Ukraine and former children’s ombudsman, described Lavrov’s case as typical. “Each child’s return is a specialized mission,” Kuleba told CNN, urging discretion to protect those involved. “We don’t collaborate with Russian authorities or officials in occupied territories because it’s too risky.” He claimed that once Moscow identifies a child as a target, it will do whatever necessary to block their return. This strategy was evident in Yulia Dvornychenko’s ordeal.

Dvornychenko, a widow, was arrested in 2021 in Torez, an eastern Ukrainian town under pro-Russia separatist control since 2014. Accused of being a Ukrainian spy, she was told her sons—Danylo, 17, and Mark, 9—would be sent to a Russian orphanage unless she signed a false confession. She complied, and the children were taken. Eighteen months later, she was released in a prisoner-of-war exchange. Mark, now 11, was still in Torez with a family friend, while Danylo had moved to Moscow to evade conscription into the Russian army.

Once in government-controlled territory, Dvornychenko immediately sought to reclaim her children, aided by Ukrainian officials. Russian authorities first promised Mark’s return via a POW exchange, but she warned him not to fear being bound or blindfolded. “I told him it meant he was coming home,” she said. “I knew what happened during those exchanges.” She spent a week at the Zaporizhzhia exchange site—only to learn the process had changed. The Russian Human Rights Commissioner’s office demanded she personally retrieve her son, a condition Ukraine rejected to prevent her from being recaptured.

Ukraine is increasingly facing a demographic crisis, marked by a surge in widows and orphans. As the conflict intensifies, the country’s efforts to rescue children from Russian-occupied zones highlight both resilience and the growing complexity of the humanitarian challenge. The “underground railroad” remains a vital, if underappreciated, lifeline for families torn apart by the war.