TORONTO — Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is co-hosting a global conference in Toronto on the plight of Ukrainian children abducted by Russian officials.
In 2024, the Trudeau government co-launched with Ukraine an international coalition of nations committed to finding and returning Ukrainian children abducted by Russia since it began its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Ukrainian authorities cite what they say are more than 20,651 records of possible unlawful deportations or forcible transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-occupied territories of eastern Ukraine.
Officials in Ukraine say 2,573 of those children have been returned.
Abducted children returned to Ukraine have reported being subjected to physical and sexual violence and exposed to educational programming meant to strip them of their Ukrainian identity, says Bring Kids Back, a coalition launched by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The coalition says some Ukrainian children have been trained to eventually take up arms against their native country.
Ukraine’s allies have expanded their reunification efforts to include adult civilians and prisoners of war taken from parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia.
Ministers from various countries and non-governmental organizations taking part in the Toronto conference Monday and Tuesday are expected to hear from Ukrainians released from Russian captivity.
Anand is expected to meet Monday with ministers from Honduras and the United Arab Emirates.
Since March 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin and a senior Russian official have been subject to International Criminal Court arrest warrants on charges of unlawful deportation and transfer of children.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2026.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press