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Mama Jane Foundation has launched the “100 Words of Support” initiative to raise awareness of one of the most painful topics in Ukraine - the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia. The initiative involves caring citizens of the world writing 100 words of support addressed to Ukrainian children who continue to remain in the occupied territories and/or have been abducted by representatives of the Russian Federation and are being forcibly detained in the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea or Russia.

Ukrainian children cannot simply be described as "deported" as the term is used in common parlance and international law. These children were not merely transferred from one territory to another; they were forcibly removed from their parents and/or legal guardians in their home country (who were either killed or separated from them), forcibly moved to another state by government agents of that state, their identities and legal citizenship erased, and then held there against their will by new legal guardians appointed by the state. This is more accurately described as a mass abduction.

The war against Ukraine continues to cause deaths, destruction, and increasing humanitarian needs. The fighting and hostilities continue to devastate parts of Ukraine and damage civilian infrastructure, including homes, schools, hospitals, and water, gas, and electricity supply systems, which in some cases were direct targets of attacks. The country has been facing a large-scale invasion by Russia since February 2022, in addition to 10 years of conflict in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

A Ukrainian orphan taken from Mariupol after Russian forces captured the Ukrainian city in the first weeks of its invasion has returned home, Kyiv said on Sunday, November 19. The case of Bogdan Yermokhin, who turned 18 on Sunday, made international headlines after Russia issued him a draft summons to report for mandatory military conscription ahead of his 18th birthday. Kyiv said he had made it back to Ukraine after a series of negotiations involving officials in Moscow, Kyiv and Belarus.

A stolen Ukrainian toddler was adopted by a key ally of Vladimir Putin who later changed her name and falsely claimed she had been born in Russia, an investigation has found. Ukrainian investigators have uncovered records that show Sergey Mironov and his wife Inna Varlamova adopted Margarita Prokopenko, now two, from a children’s home in the partly-occupied southern Kherson region in August 2022. They changed her name to Marina Mironova and registered an official document to say she had been born in Russia.

Ukrainian teenager Bohdan Yermokhin has received a summons to report to the Moscow Oblast enlistment office on 19 December 2023, reports Ukrainian Ministry of Reintegration. Bohdan is an orphan, he is only 17. During the capture of Mariupol, the occupiers took him along with other children to Moscow, and from there to the Polyana camp. In July 2022, despite having a legal guardian, his own sister, he was placed under the care of a Russian family.

It is indeed a sobering reality that the ongoing war in Ukraine has had a profound impact on the lives of children. The war has exposed them to experiences and circumstances that no child should have to endure. Ukrainian children in 2023 continue to face numerous challenges, and they do need the attention and help of adults, as well as dedicated support from various stakeholders, for several reasons...

Wartime sexual violence is one of the many crimes committed by the Russian military in the temporarily occupied territories. Unfortunately, victims of this form of violence very rarely seek psychological help and often do not tell their loved ones about their traumatic experiences. We are debunking prejudices and myths that can become an obstacle to seeking help.

A delegation from the Republic of Tatarstan, led by its Prime Minister Oleksiy Yesoshyn, made an illegal visit to the temporary occupied territory of the Luhansk region, that Russia transferred to them officially. During October about 200 Ukrainian children were taken to the Kazan camp "Zarechye" where, along with measures aimed at changing their national self-identification, a combination of virtual game environments and real physical games were held. It is possible that in the future, Ukrainian children will be recruited into drone control units on the battlefield.

On September 21, in Buenos Aires, the EU Representation in Argentina showed the documentary film "Abducted Childhood" about the kidnapping of Ukrainian children by Russia from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The firm was created by the video production of the Ukrainian media Online.UA for the International Children's Day.

Ms Alieva said that her foundation specialized in helping Ukrainian mothers and children who suffered from the Russian invaders: “Another project we are currently working on involves providing psychological assistance to children who suffered from the occupation or kidnapping, in European countries. Next month, we will send the first group. A number of large companies support us in this regard. The foundation deals with humanitarian problems, which include the supply of food and necessities."