Adobe StockThree children, who were abducted in Inverness, have been ordered to return to Scotland after a global child abduction case spanning ten countries ended in Malta.
The Ukrainian children had been living at the Mercure Hotel in the Highland city since July 2022 with their parents after the Russian invasion of their homeland.
During that time, they attended school, received medical care, and started to become integrated into Scottish life.
On October 7, 2023, the three children left with their father in a car from the hotel without the knowledge or consent of the mother.
According to Maltese court documents, Police Scotland were informed; however, “they did not regard the act as criminal”.
The children’s father drove them across the UK until they reached France, where they remained until October 15. They then travelled to Canada, where the three children stayed for two weeks.
Canadian authorities and a lawyer became involved in the case. The dad was ordered to surrender their passports and appear in court.
But, prior to a hearing taking place he fled with the children to Mexico.
After two weeks in the South American country, they returned to Ukraine for almost a year. The children’s mother contacted Ukrainian authorities regarding the abduction.
On September 4, 2024, the father fled the country with the children over the Hungarian border to an unknown location.
The whereabouts of the children remained unclear for a number of months.
In January 2025, the mother was notified that the father had obtained new passports for the children in Rome.
She travelled to Italy, where criminal proceedings were opened, and the Central Authority of Scotland also initiated proceedings under the Hague Convention (1980) in Italy.
After more than a year of receiving no information about her children’s whereabouts, the mother spotted them by chance on a train in Spain on April 2, 2026.
She discovered that they were living in Malta, where a warrant was issued on April 24.
On July 10, the court ordered that the children be immediately returned to their mother in Scotland. An appeal was lodged; however, on September 1, it was thrown out.
The case spanned ten countries: Ukraine, Poland, Wales, Scotland, France, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Spain and Malta.
The thoughts of the children, aged 15, 13 and 11, were taken into account by the court prior to the ruling.
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