Ukraine has brought three more children back from the occupied territories. Currently, all three are in safety, awaiting recovery and a return to normal life.
This was reported by the head of the organization Save Ukraine, Mykola Kuleba.
Kuleba noted that this was the 14th rescue mission of the organization, during which it was possible to bring 14 children home, seven of whom were deprived of parental care.
Among the returned children is 8-year-old Yelysei, who lived with his grandmother in the occupied part of the Kherson region at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. At that time, his mother lived in Odessa. After the death of his grandmother, the occupiers immediately placed the child in an orphanage. His half-sister went with him, but the authorities did not allow her to take the child.
"We had to act because if a child spends half a year on the territory of Russia without parental care, he is given the corresponding status, allowing him to be handed over to a Russian family or choose another way of arrangement. So our team did everything to ensure that the mother received the necessary medical assistance and could take the child from the occupied territory," explained Kuleba.
On the way, the woman had to go through interrogations by the FSB, interviews, and other obstacles.
Together with Yelysei, two 18-year-old brothers, Andrii and Mykhailo, also returned. Both orphans, who were raised in a foster family in the occupied territory before the war.
"After reaching adulthood, the guys realized that very soon the occupation authorities would send them to fight against their own. In Ukraine, both of them were wanted as missing persons," noted Kuleba.
