Four residents of the Sumy region, who were forcibly deported by the Russians in 2025, were returned to Ukraine.
This was reported by Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.
The returnees are Ukrainian citizens aged 61 to 85. They are already in Ukraine and will soon be reunited with their families.
Lubinets added that the residents of the Sumy region were able to be returned to Belarus as a result of negotiations with Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova.
What preceded
On the evening of December 20, 2025, local Sumy media reported that Russians had infiltrated the village of Hrabovske and taken civilians who had previously refused to evacuate to the territory of the Russian Federation. This involved more than 50 people.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine later confirmed that the Russian offensive had forced the Defense Forces to retreat from several positions in the Hrabovske area. The military emphasized at the time that this was not an attempt at a large-scale breakthrough, but rather a provocation.
As it later turned out, units of the Russian 36th Brigade entered the area of the border village of Hrabovskoe and tried to penetrate deep into Ukrainian territory. Having captured the village, the Russians forcibly deported more than 50 local residents to the territory of the Russian Federation. These were mostly elderly men and women, one of the women was 89 years old.
Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets added that before their deportation, these residents were illegally detained and held without access to communication facilities and proper conditions. This was on December 18, and on December 20 they were forcibly taken to the territory of the Russian Federation.
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