Ukraine Tries to Bring Back Children Evacuated to Italy After War Started

Liubov Rudyka, director of an orphanage in Sumy, with some of her charges. Photo: Liubov Rudyka / CNN

In the first months after the Russian invasion in 2022, more than 4,800 children were evacuated from Ukrainian orphanages and boarding schools to European countries. Some of them were orphans, others were under state care but had living parents.

Among them were 25 children from an orphanage in Sumy, whom the institution's director, Liubov Rudyka, took to Naples. According to her, the evacuation was considered a temporary measure. It was assumed that after the situation stabilized, the children would return to Ukraine.

However, within a few weeks of their arrival in Italy, the situation began to unfold differently than expected in Ukraine. Despite Rudyka being the legal guardian of the children under Ukrainian law, Italian authorities did not recognize her as such. The children were registered as unaccompanied minors, granted refugee status, and assigned local guardians.

This decision was linked to Italian legislation, which strengthened the protection of unaccompanied minors after the migration crisis in Europe. The law stipulates that such children cannot be removed from the country without a special court order.

Павялічыць

Illustrative photo. Ukrainian refugee children in a monastery in Castel Gandolfo near Rome. March 2022. Photo: AP Photo / Gregorio Borgia

As a result, the return of children to Ukraine began to depend on Italian courts. When Kyiv decided to relocate some of the children to safe regions of western Ukraine in 2023, the consulate in Naples began appealing to the courts to allow their return. But decisions were made separately for each child. Some children returned, others remained in Italy. Of the group brought by Rudyka, five still remain there.

Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets claims in an interview with CNN that Italy is not adequately cooperating with Kyiv on the issue of returning children. According to him, the Ukrainian side continues to send official requests, but receives answers that decisions are made by independent courts, and authorities cannot influence this process.

Lubinets even drew a parallel with Russia, stating that Italy "took our children and does not give us access to them."

Павялічыць

Illustrative photo. Maria Grazia Passeri, head of the Italian charity Salvamamme, with Ukrainian children. The organization supports families and children evacuated from Ukraine after the start of the war. Rome, 2023. Photo: Marcello Valeri / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images

Italian lawyer Rosa Emanuela Lo Faro, representing some of the children, notes that in individual cases, children were almost completely cut off from ties with Ukraine. According to her, their contacts with Ukrainian guardians and acquaintances were restricted. At the same time, she emphasizes that Italian courts are obliged to consider the children's own opinions and psychologists' conclusions.

Lo Faro also claims that in some cases, foster families who want to adopt children put pressure on authorities, arguing that the children should remain safe until the end of the war.

According to the position of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the return of children to Ukraine during wartime must be voluntary and in the best interests of the child.

As one example, CNN cites the story of 15-year-old Sasha. Before the war, he lived with his two sisters in an orphanage in Sumy after a court removed the children from their family due to difficult life circumstances. However, their parents were not deprived of their parental rights.

All three children were evacuated to Italy in 2022. Later, the two sisters were allowed to return to Ukraine, but in Sasha's case, the court made a different decision. In April, Kyiv reported that the boy had been adopted by the Italian family who had cared for him after his arrival in the country.

This sparked objections from Ukrainian authorities and the boy's mother, Natalia, who wants to bring her son home. She claims she cannot communicate with him properly. Sasha's father, a Ukrainian serviceman, has been considered missing since 2025. It remains unclear what the boy himself wants.

Volodymyr Ivaniuta, appointed by the Ukrainian government as a representative for some Ukrainian children in Italy, also states that Italian courts are increasingly denying the return of children, regardless of whether they live in foster families or orphanages.

According to Ukrainian authorities, more than 300 children cannot currently return to their homeland due to decisions by local authorities and courts, with most such cases recorded in Italy, Germany, and Austria.

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