Another 11 children have been returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory from Russian-occupied areas of the Kherson region.
Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, announced their return on Telegram.
"Another 11 children have been returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory from the temporarily occupied part of the Kherson region. They are seven boys and four girls aged between one year and four months and 17 years," he said.
The children were brought back with the assistance of the charitable organisation Save Ukraine as part of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Bring Kids Back UA initiative.
According to Prokudin, each child's story involves experiences of fear, pressure and threats.
One 16-year-old boy survived an armed assault by Russian soldiers inside his own home. At a school run by the occupation authorities, children were forced to learn how to handle weapons and operate combat drones.
Another teenager, aged 17, was threatened into attending a school run by the occupation authorities and was subsequently forcibly registered for military service. His family also endured regular armed searches of their home.
The family of an eight-year-old girl was threatened with having their daughter taken to an orphanage if she did not attend a Russian school. Children at the school were forced to participate in propaganda activities, including drawing postcards for Russian soldiers.
Prokudin said all 11 children are now safe in Ukrainian-controlled territory and are receiving the necessary assistance.
Since the beginning of the year, 219 children from the Kherson region have been returned from Russian-occupied territories, he added.
