WASHINGTON – Melania Trump has helped bring another Ukrainian child back to their family, marking the 34th reunification she has facilitated amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
“There is nothing more powerful than reuniting a mother with her child after an extended period of time,” the first lady said in a statement Monday.
“My representative and I are focused on helping facilitate the next reunification of individuals who have been separated from their loved ones because of the war between Ukraine and Russia.”
Earlier this month, Trump said she and her team had assisted in reuniting a fifth group of Ukrainian and Russian children with relatives. The Russian children had been living in Ukraine with their families before the war began and were later separated from loved ones.
Thousands of Ukrainian children, meanwhile, have been removed from homes and orphanages — largely in the country’s occupied east — and taken to Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In March, the United Nations said it had verified the abduction of more than 1,200 children across five regions of Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have said the real figure could be as high as 20,000.
Trump wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin in August 2025, pressing him to protect children affected by the war. Her letter was hand-delivered in Alaska by President Trump during his meeting with the Russian leader.
Putin later said Melania had an “open channel of communication” with him, according to the first lady.
She has made children’s issues a central platform in her husband’s second term. In addition to her work in Ukraine, Melania has spoken up for foster children in general and urged educators to adapt to new technologies, including AI.
She and her team have used diplomatic back channels to return children to their families in Ukraine.
The latest reunification involving the Ukrainan girl and her family comes as Kyiv launched one of its biggest attacks of the war, sending hundreds of drones across Russia.
Kyiv has stepped up its attacks as Ukrainian President Zelensky has lobbied President Trump for more weapons aid, including a license to build Patriot Missiles.
Russia responded to the latest attack by hitting the Danube port in the southern region of Odessa, a major waterway between Ukraine and the rest of Europe.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belovam in 2023 for the alleged unlawful deportation of kids.
Russia denies the accusation and says it merely removing children from war zones for their own safety.
