On February 24, at 10:00 AM, a press conference titled “Without a Trace: Russia’s Abduction and Removal of Residents of Specialized Institutions in Kherson Oblast” will take place at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center. The event is organized by the Emile Foundation.
When Russia occupied Kherson Oblast, some of the most vulnerable victims were children with disabilities and serious illnesses from specialized institutions — those who could not flee and whose parents or legal guardians were unable to protect them. Russian forces forcibly removed 84 residents of the Oleshky boarding school and 50 young children from the Kherson orphanage without the consent of relatives or legal representatives. Since their deportation, only a few have returned home. The families of the remaining children have been left without reliable information about their whereabouts, while the children themselves require constant medical and social care. Every day, their loved ones ask the same painful question: is my child alive?
The discussion will address what has changed since 2022 in the dynamics of returning children from institutions in Kherson Oblast; how many children have been brought back; how assistance and support for relatives are organized; what challenges families face; whether mass returns are possible without systematic international pressure; and what is happening to the institutions that once cared for these children. The event will highlight personal stories of forcibly removed children, the challenges faced by their families, the fate of institutions under and after occupation, perspectives on institutional cooperation for the return and rehabilitation of Ukrainian children, and key findings from the Foundation’s work since 2023.