Life In Freedom: Supporting Children and Youth

Russia has taken nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children into Russia or Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. These children have experienced trauma, displacement, and separation from their families. We are helping those who have been returned recover and rebuild their lives.

Life In Freedom: Supporting Children and Youth

Since Fall 2024, we have been supporting Ukrainian children and youth who have been forcibly taken to Russia or Russian-controlled areas and later returned to Ukraine. These children have faced immense trauma, displacement, and separation from their families, and many have experienced profound emotional and physical hardships. Our goal is to help them recover and rebuild their lives by providing assistance tailored to their unique needs.

According to reports from the Ukrainian government and international organizations, an estimated 19,500 children have been illegally deported to Russia or Russian-controlled territories since the start of the invasion. Many of these children were taken from their homes in occupied regions, including Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea, and placed in Russian institutions or families, often without the consent or knowledge of their biological parents. The situation has drawn widespread condemnation from human rights organizations, who call it a violation of international law and an attempt at forced assimilation.

Maple Hope Foundation’s efforts to assist these children began through our collaboration with the Child Rights Protection Centre in Kyiv. We received a list of families and children who had been forcibly takken and have now returnned to Ukraine. Our team in Ukraine began contacting these families, establishing connections, and asking how we could best support their needs.

So far, our support has ranged from providing basic necessities of life, furniture, electronics to supporting health and wellness needs, such as covering dental costs for one of the youth who had not received proper care while in Russian-controlled areas. For instance, we helped a young boy, originally from Donetsk, access dental treatment that was delayed for years.

Each child’s journey is unique, and our work is ongoing. Through the foundation’s outreach efforts, we are continually connecting with families and identifying ways we can help improve their quality of life as they transition back to life in Ukraine, which continues to be far from normal under constant Russian shelling.

You can find out more about the individual stories of these children in the “News” section of our website.