As part of the President of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and Chief Operating Officer of Bring Kids Back UA, Dariia Zarivna, held meetings in Sweden on potential areas of cooperation. The key topics of discussions included the search for, return, rehabilitation, and reintegration of Ukrainian children who were deported and illegally transferred by Russia.
During her meeting with Torbjörn Sohlström, Director General and Head of the Euro-Atlantic and Security Policy Department of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Dariia Zarivna emphasized the importance of continuing support for Ukraine and increasing pressure on Russia for the unconditional return of all Ukrainian children. This issue must be one of the key preconditions for a just and lasting peace.
The Chief Operating Officer of Bring Kids Back UA also noted the problem of the militarization of Ukrainian children and their recruitment into the Russian army.
“By restricting access to higher education and directing children to military academies, Russia shortens the path from school to war. In this way, it attempts to wage war against Ukraine using abducted Ukrainian children as soldiers,” Dariia Zarivna emphasized.
Support for reintegration programs for Ukrainian children who have been returned home was one of the main topics during the meeting with Minna Ljunggren, State Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.
“These children suffer from deep psychological trauma. They have been deprived of their native language, names, and families. Some of them have experienced violence, isolation, and systematic ideological indoctrination. They have the right to know who they are. The right to safety, love, and education in their native language. The right to healing,” said the Chief Operating Officer of Bring Kids Back UA.
Dariia Zarivna called on Sweden to cooperate in trauma recovery and the educational adaptation of the children.
At the meeting with Special Envoy for Ukraine, Ambassador Ulrik Tideström; Acting Head of the Department for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Maria Lindgren Saltanova; and Coordinator for Ukraine at the Office of the Prime Minister of Sweden for Foreign and Security Policy, Henrik Norberg, humanitarian issues in the context of the peace negotiation process were discussed in detail.