Successfully returned a teenager after three years of occupation

• The return of the teenager took place as part of the initiative "Return of Children Home"
• Since the beginning of the war, Russia has deported over 19,500 children
• In Ukraine, over a thousand children have already been returned from the occupation

This is reported by RBC Ukraine, Ukrinform.

Ukraine has returned a 16-year-old teenager who spent over three years in the occupied territory. This became possible thanks to the initiative "Return of Children Home," about which reported the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak.

When the full-scale war began, the teenager was living in a village with his grandmother, who was soon captured. His mother remained in the territory controlled by Ukraine.

Throughout these years, the teenager himself was looking for his grandmother, who needed assistance, without access to necessary medical care and essential medicines. Today, after three months of waiting, the teenager has finally reunited with his mother.

"I am grateful to the team of the Ukrainian military for protecting the rights of children and the volunteer initiative HUMANITY for helping in the return of the teenager and his grandmother. We are fulfilling the President's task to return all children," added Yermak.

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.

Currently, over a thousand Ukrainian children have already been returned home.

The deportation of Ukrainian children has become the reason for the issuance of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court in The Hague against President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the authorized representative of Russia on children's rights Maria Lvova-Belova.

Moreover, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading a draft law that establishes accountability for illegal export and use of children for military purposes by representatives of the invading state.

Tags: Ukraine/Politics