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Norway intensifying efforts to help Ukrainian children return home

Government of Norway

News story | Date: 23/09/2025

Thousands of Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia during the war in Ukraine. Norway is supporting the critical efforts to enable these children to return home. During the UN General Assembly High-level Week in New York, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre participated in a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on this issue.

The meeting was co-hosted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

'During my visit to Ukraine a few weeks ago, I had the chance to meet some of the children who had been forcibly deported to Russia. The children had been brought home to Ukraine after a long, drawn-out process. It was very moving to hear what they had been through. Far too few of the children deported to Russia have been able to return to Ukraine. Norway will continue to contribute to the efforts to bring the Ukrainian children home,' said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

Helping to reunite these children with their families is a priority under the Norwegian Nansen Support Programme for Ukraine. Norway recently increased its support for the vital work being done by UNICEF and the Ukrainian authorities to facilitate the reintegration of the Ukrainian children who have returned home. This work must be carried out in line with international law and based on the best interests of the child.

'At today's meeting, we discussed ways to step up efforts to help deported Ukrainian children. Norway has supported this work since the start of the war, and we must make use of the channels available to us to help bring the children home,' said Mr Støre.

Forced deportation is a deliberate policy employed by Russia. Tens of thousands of civilians have been forcibly displaced from occupied areas since the start of the war. This includes thousands of children.

At the start of 2025, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that the number of open cases of missing persons linked to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has more than doubled in the last year and has now reached 50 000. The ICRC's Central Tracing Agency (CTA) Bureau is cooperating with all parties to the conflict in order to prevent disappearances, support families looking for relatives, and play a neutral role as an intermediary. A large number of Ukrainian civilians are being illegally held captive in Russia without trial. The conditions in the prisons are very harsh. According to Amnesty International, the Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians have been subjected to torture, long-term isolation and enforced disappearance by the Russian authorities.

UNICEF is playing an important role in the efforts to reintegrate children as they return to Ukraine. UNICEF is working with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine to build a database of missing and forcibly deported children and is seeking to promote capacity building and create a responsible framework for handling personal data ensuring compliance with international humanitarian law and dealing with cybersecurity issues. UNICEF itself will not play an operative role in the management of the database. Norway recently provided approximately USD 1.5 million to these efforts. Norway has now contributed a total of approximately NOK 400 million in support in 2025, channelled through UNICEF and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.