Ukraine returned four more children from occupation and deportation — a 17-year-old girl and three boys aged 6, 3 and 9.
This was announced by the head of the Presidentʼs Office Andriy Yermak and the Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.
One of the boys lived in the Kherson region, he was forcibly taken to the occupied Crimea. The boyʼs mother was a soldier and went to defend Ukraine at the beginning of the war. Later, she was captured. The child stayed with his grandparents until they took him away. The boyʼs mother was exchanged, and now she met her son again.
Another boy ended up in an orphanage in the Bryansk region of Russia. His grandmother looked for him.
Yermak did not tell the story of the other two children.
Lubinets separately reminded that in case of disappearance of a child in the occupied territories, it is necessary to contact the Office of the Ombudsman. Hotline numbers: 0 800 50 17 20 — within Ukraine, 044 299 74 08 — for calls from abroad; e-mail address — [email protected].
- Deportation of Ukrainian children is one of Russiaʼs war crimes, for which the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the childrenʼs ombudsman of the Russian Federation Maria Lvova-Belova. Currently, at least 19,453 Ukrainian children are known to have been forcibly deported to Russia. Ukraine also has evidence that Belarus participates in the deportation of Ukrainian children. In addition, Russia is illegally holding approximately 27,000 Ukrainian civilian hostages.