Ukrainian children’s future left to Italian courts
Italy has taken in several hundred Ukrainian children from care homes since 2022. As these minors are now under Italian jurisdiction and the security situation in Ukraine has not improved, an urgent priority for the Ukrainian authorities is to re-establish partial oversight of their living conditions, with a view to their eventual return home.
April 20, 2026 -
Nataliya Kudryk
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Issue 3 2026MagazineStories and ideas
In the first weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, 4,739 orphans and children deprived of parental care were temporarily evacuated to European countries with the Ukrainian government’s permission. Kyiv gradually began to repatriate these young people, but according to the State Service of Ukraine for Children’s Affairs, as of April 2025, over 1,700 children (around 40 per cent) remained abroad. Some countries, citing local court rulings, do not allow minors to be taken out of the country due to the protracted state of war in Ukraine.
This list includes Italy, which has taken in several hundred Ukrainian children from care homes since 2022. Currently, over 100 children are in the country’s southern regions, mainly in Calabria and on the island of Sicily, as well as in the northern Lombardy region in the province of Bergamo. As Italy has taken these minors under its jurisdiction and the security situation in Ukraine is not improving, the urgent task for the Ukrainian side has become not so much the swift return of the minors as the restoration of partial supervision over the conditions of their stay in a foreign country with a view to their future return to their home country. The Ukrainian Consul General in Naples says that due to opposition from local guardians, the situation has reached a legal impasse and a protracted legal battle lies ahead.
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