'Bring them back': Ukrainian orphans demand return of children in Russia

Ukrainian boy Maksym, 16, who was brought home after being taken to Russian controlled territory, reacts during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands September 14, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Ukrainian orphans Ivan and Maksym, 17 and 16, escaped shelling and hunger in besieged Mariupol only to be captured and taken to the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk where they were held incommunicado for months with dozens of other children.

They are now among about 400 Ukrainian children to have returned from Russia or Russian-held territory since Moscow's full-scale invasion began in February, 2022 - a tiny fraction of the 20,000 children that Kyiv has identified as taken without the consent of family or guardians.