Eight more Ukrainian children and teenagers were returned from the temporarily occupied territories of the Russian Federation.
Points of attention
- Ukraine successfully returned 8 children and teenagers from Russian-occupied territories, rescuing them from threats, forced conscription, and systematic indoctrination in schools.
- The rescued children faced summonses to military registration offices, threats, and hostile curriculum in occupied schools, highlighting the challenging conditions they endured.
8 children and teenagers returned from TOT to Ukraine
Despite their young age, they were given summonses to military registration and enlistment offices, and were threatened for refusing to study under a hostile curriculum in schools, the Bring Kids Back initiative said.
21-year-old Ilya, who was detained by the FSB along with his sister, was returned from the TOT to the territory under Ukrainian control. The young man was forced to register with the Russian military, and due to constant patrols, he could not freely move around the streets of his hometown.
15-year-old Maria, who refused to attend school there for two years, also managed to escape the occupation. Later, the girl's mother began to threaten to take her daughter away and deprive her of parental rights.
"Due to fear and prolonged isolation from her peers, Maria's health deteriorated," Bring Kids Back said.
And 16-year-old Lev had a tracking app installed on his phone at school. Later, a summons to the military enlistment office was brought to his home, after which he made the final decision to leave the occupation.
In an educational institution under occupation, 15-year-old Ksenia was transferred two grades below without explanation. During school classes, students were systematically told that "Ukraine does not exist."
Currently, all of them are safe and are receiving the necessary psychological assistance and support in processing documents and providing housing.
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:
