Three children rescued from occupied Kherson region: one boy ceased to speak because of fear
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- Mariia Khamitsevych
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12:36, 28 March, 2025
Ukraine has managed to return three more children from the occupied Kherson region, illustrative photo: theukrainians.orgUkraine has managed to return three more children from the temporarily occupied Kherson region — a boy and two girls aged 3 to 13.
According to the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, the boy ceased to speak because the Russians were constantly searching his home and threatening him with weapons.
«Each of them went through the hell of the Russian occupation. Constant searches and threats with weapons by the Russian military traumatised the boy so much that he ceased to speak. For more than a year, the child could not even say the word «mum», said Oleksandr Prokudin.
According to Save Ukraine, the boy is 5 years old and the son of a Ukrainian soldier. According to their information, the «family decided to flee» when the Russian military began threatening to shoot the entire family for refusing to obtain a Russian passport.
Oleksandr Prokudin said that the girls' families were also under threat — because of their Ukrainian documents, the children could be separated from their parents and sent to Russian boarding schools.
«Currently, the children are on free land and receive medical and psychological assistance», said the head of the RMA.
The operation to rescue the children was part of the initiative of the President of Ukraine Bring Kids Back UA with the support of Save Ukraine. In total, 28 children from Kherson region have been returned from the occupation since the beginning of the year.
Save Ukraine also noted that Russian border guards have made it much more difficult for Ukrainian children to leave the occupied territories. «Repression at checkpoints and border crossings is intensifying, especially against orphans».
It should be recalled that the United States is discussing the possibility of returning Ukrainian children who were forcibly taken to Russia as one of the key steps to build trust between the parties.