Thirty-one children have returned to Ukraine after being illegally deported to Russia, CNN reports, according to the Kyiv humanitarian organization Save Ukraine.

Children abducted by Russia have returned to UkrainePhoto: SERHIY CHUSAVKOV / AFP / Profimedia

Children carrying suitcases and bags with belongings, some of them clutching stuffed animals, were accompanied by family members and hugged by volunteers after crossing the border with Ukraine on foot. Then they boarded the bus to continue their journey.

“The children kidnapped by the Russians from the Kherson and Kharkiv regions have finally crossed the border together with their families and are now safe,” Mykola Kuleba, the founder of the “Save Ukraine” organization, wrote in Telegram.

“Psychological and physical recovery awaits both children and their parents. And we will continue to take care of them until the families return home,” Kuleba added.

Olga Yerokhina from Save Ukraine told CNN that this is the organization’s fifth rescue mission.

According to her, a little more than a week ago, a group of 13 mothers left Ukraine, many of them received powers of attorney that allowed them to take children of other parents besides their own.

The group crossed Poland and then traveled through Belarus, Russia and eventually to Russian-occupied Crimea, where they were reunited with 24 children. According to her, the other seven children were found in Voronezh, Rostov and Belgorod, all of them are in Russia.

Yerokhina said that facilitating rescue operations was difficult because Save Ukraine has no official contacts with anyone in Russia. Instead, the organization received crucial help from volunteers in various locations.

Allegations of large-scale forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia are at the heart of war crimes charges brought last month by the International Criminal Court against Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior official Maria Lvova-Belova.

Ukraine stated that more than 16,000 such cases are under investigation.

Russia denies it is doing anything illegal, saying it is temporarily saving Ukrainian children from war and ensuring their safety.