'It was heartbreaking' - Ukraine children back home after alleged deportation

Natalia Rakk smiles as she walks with her 14-year-old daughter Aliona, who went to a Russian-organised summer camp from non-government controlled territories and was then taken to Russia, after returning via the Ukraine-Belarus border, in Volyn region, Ukraine April 7, 2023. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

UKRAINE/BELARUS BORDER (Reuters) - More than 30 children were reunited with their families in Ukraine this weekend after a long operation to bring them back home from Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea, where they had been taken from areas occupied by Russian forces during the war.

Mothers hugged sons and daughters as they crossed the border from Belarus into Ukraine on Friday after a complex rescue mission involving travel across four countries.