Two more children were returned from the occupied part of the Kherson region to the territory controlled by Ukraine. They are a toddler and a 17-year-old boy.
Points of attention
- Two children, a toddler, and a 17-year-old boy, were successfully rescued from the occupied part of the Kherson region and returned to Ukraine.
- The children's stories reveal the threats and pressures they faced due to refusing a Russian passport and expressing pro-Ukrainian sentiments.
- The Bring Kids Back UA initiative played a crucial role in facilitating the rescue and return of the children to safety.
Ukraine returns two children from Kherson region to Ukraine
According to the head of the Kherson OVA, Oleksandr Prokudin, in 2022, the life of the mother of one of the children, a 23-year-old woman, turned into a struggle for survival.
After she refused to obtain a Russian passport, so-called "guardianship services" tried to take her newborn son away, claiming that the mother was unable to provide for the child.
The only thing the girl dreamed of all the time was to go to her sister in Dnipro.
A 17-year-old boy was also rescued after living under the pressure of the occupiers for over two years. The teenager was forced to study according to the Russian curriculum and was threatened with "the basement" for expressing a pro-Ukrainian position.
The boy tried to escape repeatedly, but only now did he manage to return to his biological father.
Currently, the mother, baby, and boyfriend are undergoing rehabilitation and preparing to return to normal life in safety.
The official thanked the initiative of the President of Ukraine, Bring Kids Back UA, for helping to save our people.
To learn more about Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children, watch the documentary "Damaged Childhood," created by Ukrainian independent media and video production company Online.UA:
