Ukraine recovers teen after three years under Russian occupation
Ukraine brings back another teenager from occupation (photo: Getty Images)
Ukraine has succeeded in returning a 16-year-old teenager who spent more than three years under occupation. This was done as part of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, according to Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak.
According to Yermak, when the full-scale war began, the 16-year-old boy was with his grandmother in a village that was quickly occupied. His mother, meanwhile, was in the territory controlled by Ukraine.
For all these years, the boy independently took care of his grandmother, who required assistance, without access to proper medical care or necessary medication. And today, after long years of waiting, the boy is finally reunited with his mother.
"I am grateful to the teams of the Ukrainian Child Rights Network and the volunteer initiative HUMANITY for their help in rescuing the boy and his grandmother. We are fulfilling the president's task to return all children," the head of the Office of the President added.
Deportation of Ukrainian children
According to Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, since the beginning of the full-scale war, Russia has deported over 19,500 children from Ukraine. These figures are approximate; the actual number of abducted children may be higher.
At the same time, more than one thousand Ukrainian children have already been returned home.
The deportation of Ukrainian children was the reason for the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.
Additionally, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Ukraine's parliament) has passed in the first reading a draft law establishing responsibility for the illegal transfer and use of children for military purposes by representatives of a foreign state.
