Ukrainian teenager, deported to Russia, commits suicide: Case opened
Illustrative photo: The Office of the Prosecutor General will investigate the suicide of an 18-year-old Ukrainian deported to Russia (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
In Russia, 18-year-old Ukrainian Oleksandr Yakushchenko committed suicide. He had been illegally taken to Russia from the Kherson region, according to Vazhnye Istorii and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine on Telegram.
Information about the teenager in the media
As reported by Vazhnye Istorii, Oleksandr Yakushchenko lived in an orphanage near Kherson. The head of the orphanage collaborated with the Russian occupation forces, and amid the liberation of the right-bank part of the Kherson region, she left for Russia with the children in her care.
Photo: Oleksandr Yakushchenko (t.me/istories_media)
The 18-year-old boy ended up in a foster family in the Krasnodar region. Shortly before his suicide, he recorded an audio message for his friends, stating that he was "not needed by anyone" and that "if he hadn't come to the Krasnodar region, there wouldn't have been any problems."
According to the news agency, Oleksandr had not met with his biological mother, Olena Yakushchenko, since 2016. Their relationship was poor, and they only communicated by phone.
Case has been opened
As noted by the Office of the Prosecutor General, in connection with the information about the suicide of the boy, a ward of the family-type orphanage in the village of Tokarivka, Kherson region, a criminal proceeding has been initiated for the commission of a war crime that led to the death of a person.
Deportation of children to Russia
The deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia is a widespread phenomenon. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the Russian forces have taken at least hundreds of thousands of children from Ukrainian territory.
However, Ukraine is gradually bringing them back. Recently, five children were successfully returned from Russia and the occupied territories.
