Eight children and teenagers were rescued from Russian occupation last week.
Points of attention
- Ukraine successfully rescued 8 children and teenagers from Russian occupation as part of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative.
- The rescued children and adolescents faced brutal circumstances, including acts of violence and pressure from Russian occupiers, but are now safe and receiving support.
- The initiative was made possible with the help of the Save Ukraine team and other partners, providing assistance in restoring documents, psychological support, and necessary resources for the rescued individuals.
Ukraine returns group of children from TOT
This was made possible within the framework of the initiative of the President of Ukraine Bring Kids Back UA and thanks to the help of the Save Ukraine team and the support of other partners.
Among those rescued:
One and a half year old Yaroslav, who was almost taken away from his mother at a filtration point. FSB officers found a contact with the Ukrainian Armed Forces on her phone and threatened to separate from the child. And at the beginning of the invasion, under the guise of “evacuation,” the Russians took Myroslava and her family to a hangar, where they forced them to obtain Russian documents.
17-year-old Polina witnessed the brutal beatings and interrogations of her loved ones by Russian soldiers when they broke into their home.
Zlata, 16, and Eva, 13, were bullied at a Russian school for speaking Ukrainian. In addition, the occupiers forcibly enrolled Eva in the “movement of the first” — an organization that militarizes children and prepares them for service in the army of the aggressor state. Their older, adult sister and child were also “evacuated” by the occupiers to Russia, where she was placed in a psychiatric hospital.
The father of 10-year-old Matvey refused Russian documents and independently educated his son according to the Ukrainian school curriculum. To protect him from Russian school, the father hid his son at home for years, not even allowing him to go outside. When Russian soldiers came to their yard, the boy pretended to be asleep so that they wouldn’t find him.
Today, all rescued children are safe, receiving assistance in restoring their documents, psychological support, and the necessary support to begin a new stage in their lives.
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:
