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Canada will co-host an international conference in Toronto later this month aimed at securing the return of Ukrainian children, detained civilians and prisoners of war held by Russia.
Foreign Minister Anita Anand announced on Saturday that Canada, Ukraine and Norway will host the two-day conference on September 28 and 29.
The event, called The Path to Peace: Second International Conference on the Repatriation of Ukrainian Children, Detained Civilians and Prisoners of Warwill bring together foreign ministers, senior government representatives and international organizations.
“Canada, Ukraine and Norway convened this conference to strengthen international support for efforts to repatriate people, protect those still under Russian control and ensure that returnees can access rehabilitation and reintegration services,” Global Affairs Canada said in a statement.
Ukrainian authorities have documented 20,651 cases of possible unlawful deportation or forced transfer of Ukrainian children by Russia, according to the federal government.
So far, 2,573 children have been returned from deportation, forced displacement and temporarily occupied territories.
In June, the human rights commissioner in the Ukrainian parliament had confirmed that 1,878 civilians were unlawfully detained by Russia. Global Affairs Canada says the actual number could be much higher, and some civil society organizations estimate as many as 20,000 civilians may be detained.
Ukraine does not reveal the exact number of prisoners of war held by Russia.
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As of August, 9,529 Ukrainian military personnel and civilians had been returned from Russian captivity, according to Global Affairs Canada.
Participants in Toronto will discuss ways to strengthen tracing and information sharing and establish pathways for people to return to Ukraine.
The conference will also focus on humanitarian access and family contact for those still under Russian control.
The meeting came as Russia intensified its air campaign against Ukraine.
Russian strikes killed eight civilians and injured dozens more in Ukraine on Saturday, according to local officials.
Two people were killed when Russian drones attacked a residential area in Zaporizhzhia, while another person was killed in Kryvyi Rih. In Odesa and the surrounding region, 35 people were injured in what regional officials described as a “massive attack.”
Three people were also killed when a drone attacked a vehicle in Kramatorsk, while two others were killed in a Russian attack on a grocery store in the Zhytomyr region.
The attack came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the deployment of European troops to Ukraine would mean direct conflict with Russia.
“Now they are talking about how they are considering sending troops to Ukraine. That means war with Russia,” Putin said on Friday at a summit of the BRICS group of developing countries in India.
Several European leaders have pledged support for a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine as part of a future peace deal, a proposal Moscow has repeatedly rejected.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview published on Saturday that he would be willing to meet Putin if the two leaders were invited to the G20 summit in Miami in December.
Canada has provided more than $26 billion in multifaceted support to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, including more than $750 million for recovery and reconstruction, according to the federal government.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
