Seven-year-old boy, who lived under occupation without parents, returned from Kherson region with other children

Children returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine from the occupation. Photo: IgorVetushko/Depositphotos, for illustration purposes

Several more children from the temporarily occupied part of Kherson region have been returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine.

These are girls and boys aged 2 to 17 who survived the pressure of the occupation authorities, said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration.

According to him, among the children is a seven-year-old boy who lived with his grandparents for three years on the right bank of the Kherson region. His parents went to Kherson when the city was still occupied, but could not return because the bridge was blown up and the crossing was closed. The relatives hid the child from the Russians and even issued Russian documents, but the authorities were preparing to remove the boy from the family.

Another family with a 12-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy who were afraid to attend a Russian school because of threats and harassment from their classmates also moved to government-controlled territory.

The children were rescued as part of the President of Ukraine's Bring Kids Back UA initiative with the assistance of the Save Ukraine charity.

According to the RMA, all the children are now safe, receiving psychological assistance, support with documents and care from their families. A total of 237 children have been evacuated from the temporarily occupied territories since the beginning of the year.

We would like to remind you that during her visit to Kyiv, Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginene presented a new humanitarian initiative «Children First. Protecting the Future of Ukraine», aimed at helping and rehabilitating Ukrainian children abducted by Russia and their families.