Ukraine brings back children deported to Russia from special school
Photo: Ukraine has returned a group of children who were deported to Russia in 2022 (Getty Images)
Ukraine has managed to bring back a group of children and teenagers — students of the Novopetrivska Special School in the Mykolaiv region, who were deported to Russia in 2022, according to the Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak.
Yermak said that during the occupation of part of the Mykolaiv region in 2022, Russian forces deported children from the Novopetrivska Special School.
Among the abducted were orphans and children deprived of parental care.
The school's director made every effort to protect the boys and girls, refusing to relocate them to temporarily occupied Crimea and trying instead to move them toward Ukrainian-controlled territory.
After learning about this, the Russian representatives arrived with threats and, accompanied by a Rosgvardiya special unit in military Tiger vehicles, forcibly moved the children to the left bank of the Kherson region. From there, they were taken through occupied Crimea and then by train to Anapa, Russia.
“I thank the Office of the Ombudsman, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and all partners who contributed to this return. The children have traveled a long way to finally be home in Ukraine. Next, they will undergo a reintegration process and continue their education in Ukrainian schools," Yermak added.
Deportation of Ukrainian children
According to Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, more than 19,500 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia.
At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has managed to bring back 1,625 of them, thanks to the Bring Kids Back UA initiative.
It was the deportation of Ukrainian children that led the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue arrest warrants for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.
Recently, the number of countries willing to help return deported Ukrainian children has grown. This includes assistance in bringing back children who remain in occupied territories.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of US senators has called for Russia to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism over its mass deportation of Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied regions.
