Olena Zelenska took part in a meeting with representatives of the US State Department dedicated to the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia

The President's wife emphasized that only officially there are about 20,000 reports on the deportation and forced relocation of Ukrainian children. "Only Russia knows the real number. It blocks international monitoring, hides information, changes children's personal data and stopped publishing statistics after orders from the International Criminal Court," the first lady said. Olena Zelenska thanked everyone involved in the process of returning young Ukrainians home.

"Bringing the children home is only half way there. Because in the Motherland they need conditions and opportunities, decent reintegration. As part of the Better Care reform, a national system of support for children after return has been created in Ukraine. In 2025, 848 children and their families received appropriate support. The United States is one of our key partners in this area," the President's wife emphasized.

According to the first lady, most of the children who return have lost everything, therefore the team of the Coordination Center for the Development of Family Education and Child Care and the Elena Zelenska Foundation are working in several areas, in which foreign partners are invited to join: "Social housing for youth" - construction of social apartments for young people who have returned from the Russian Federation and TOT, "Supported accommodation" - housing and education for youth aged 16-23 with disabilities, the "Adresa" project childhood" - building houses for large adoptive families, "Minivans for large adoptive families" - providing transportation for safety and daily needs, "Humanitarian aid" - supporting more than 1,000 large adoptive families with household appliances, furniture and educational devices, "Psychological rehabilitation camps" - camps for children and teenagers who survived war or deportation.