Escape from occupation: Ukraine manages to return three more children
Photo: three more Ukrainian children returned from occupation (kyivcity.gov.ua)
Ukraine has returned three teenagers from the occupation who had been fleeing persecution by Russian security services and pressure to enroll in universities in Russia, according to a Telegram post by Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President.
He said that an 18-year-old girl, who had been living in temporarily occupied Crimea with her mother, was returned to Kyiv-controlled territory. They had no opportunity to leave the occupied area on their own and constantly changed their place of residence to avoid persecution by Russian security services.
Another Ukrainian girl was pressured by the Russians to enroll in a university in Russia or Crimea after finishing school, but she dreamed of studying at a Ukrainian university.
Photo: several more children returned from the occupation (t.me/ermaka2022)
Yermak also spoke about a 19-year-old young man who hesitated to leave, fearing he would be detained at a checkpoint and forcibly drafted into the Russian army.
"Today they are already safe and receiving assistance – from restoring documents to psychological support," the head of the Office of the President said.
Deportation of Ukrainian children
Earlier, we reported that, according to the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets, during the full-scale war, Russia has deported over 19,500 children from Ukraine. More than a thousand young Ukrainians have been returned home, and the process is ongoing.
The deportation of Ukrainian children was the reason the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.
In April, the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) adopted a bill in principle establishing liability for the illegal transfer and use of children for military purposes by representatives of another country.
In addition, a bipartisan group of US senators called for recognizing the aggressor country as a state sponsor of terrorism due to Russia’s mass deportation of Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories.
