Survived Kakhovka dam explosion and persecution: Group of teenagers returned from occupation
Illustrative photo: A group of teenagers was returned to Ukraine from the temporarily occupied territories (GettyImages)
Another group of teenagers has been successfully returned to Ukraine from temporarily occupied territories, stated Andriy Yermak, Head of the Presidential Office.
Yermak reported that as part of the Ukrainian President’s initiative, Bring Kids Back UA, another group of teenagers who had been in temporarily occupied areas was brought back.
For the past three years, they lived under pressure, without access to Ukrainian education, facing the threat of mobilization, searches, and harassment for their pro-Ukrainian position.
Among those returned are a girl who was threatened with violence for refusing to wear Russian symbols, a boy whose grandmother hid him at home to keep him from attending a Russian school, and a child who survived the Kakhovka dam explosion and endured repeated interrogations on the way home. The children are currently safe.
"Thanks to the Save Ukraine team and all partners who helped rescue our children. We are fulfilling the President’s mission to bring back all Ukrainian children," Yermak added.
Abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia
Preliminary data shows that since the start of the full-scale war, approximately 19,500 Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories were deported to Russia. These figures are approximate, and the actual number of abducted children may be higher. Meanwhile, only just over a thousand children have been returned home.
Recently, as part of prisoner exchange agreements, the Kremlin proposed exchanging Ukrainian children for Russian soldiers.
