Ukraine brings back 16 teenagers from Russian-occupied areas
Ukraine brings back 16 more teenagers from occupation (photo: t.me/ermaka2022)
Ukraine has managed to return 16 more teenagers from territory temporarily occupied by Russia. This took place as part of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, reported Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
"As part of the Ukrainian President's initiative, Bring Kids Back UA, it was possible to rescue 16 young people from the temporarily occupied territory. They went through pressure, humiliation, and coercion that no child or teenager should have to face," Yermak reported.
According to him, one girl openly spoke Ukrainian at school and, for that, became a target of Russian forces: she was denounced, publicly humiliated in propaganda channels, and forced to visit the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB), where she was pressured to renounce her own position.
Another girl was forcibly involved in a military-patriotic club, where she had to assemble and disassemble weapons, participate in "important conversations," and demonstrate loyalty to the military.
Yet another girl, after the start of the full-scale invasion, lost the opportunity to study under Ukrainian curricula: her college was seized, she was forced to obtain a Russian passport, and surveyed according to Kremlin propaganda.
"Today, all of them are safe, receiving psychological support, restoring their documents, and step by step reclaiming their right to a future in a free Ukraine. We thank Save Ukraine and the volunteer initiative Humanity for helping rescue these teenagers," added the Head of the Presidential Office.
Deportation of Ukrainian children
According to the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, since the beginning of the full-scale war, Russia has deported more than 19,500 children from Ukraine.
At the same time, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported, Ukraine has been able to bring back 1,625 children from Russia. This was made possible thanks to the Bring Kids Back UA initiative.
The deportation of Ukrainian children was the reason for the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue arrest warrants for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.
The number of countries willing to help return Ukrainian children deported by Russia to its territory has increased. This also concerns children who remain in areas occupied by the enemy.
In addition, a bipartisan group of US senators is calling for Russia to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism over the mass deportation of Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied territories.
