Two orphans and teenagers with draft notices from Russians: 15 children brought back to Ukraine from Russian occupation
Pravda Ukraine
Fifteen more children have been brought back to Ukraine from temporarily occupied territories, including two orphans and teenagers who had received draft notices from the Russians.
Source: Bring Kids Back UA, an initiative for bringing back deported Ukranian children
Details: Among those who have been brought home is the Danylovych family. The mother of five, Anzhela, refused to obtain Russian documents throughout nearly three years of occupation, leading the occupiers to label her an “emigrant”.
The Russians forced Anzhela to send her sons to school, threatening to “have another conversation” if she refused. The family abandoned all their belongings in the occupied territory to save their children from forced Russification.
Three 17-year-old teenagers – Matvii, Oleksandr and Maksym – have also been brought home. Matvii and Oleksandr were forced to accept Russian passports shortly after they were handed draft notices for the Russian Armed Forces.
Maksym was abducted from his home, handcuffed and taken to a military enlistment office, where he was pressured to sign a contract. After being released, he went into hiding at his grandmother’s house.
Also, 16-year-old Yurii and his mother, Yuliia, were rescued from occupation. As a teacher, Yuliia was constantly pressured by the occupation authorities to collaborate.
Eight-year-old Danylo and his mother have been brought back as well. The boy was bullied for being Ukrainian. One day, he came home with a busted lip and bruises, prompting the family to flee.
Alisa Tsushko, who gave birth to her daughter during the full-scale war, also managed to leave. She refused to obtain Russian documents for her child and instead issued a Ukrainian birth certificate. As a result, she endured a horrific year and a half under occupation, with doctors refusing to provide medical check-ups or vaccinations for her daughter.
12-year-old Andrii and 7-year-old Mia, whose mother had died, were sent by the Russians to an orphanage, where they were prepared for adoption into a Russian family. They were forced to sing songs about the Russian city of Rostov and Donbas and attend lessons on how to assemble an assault rifle. The Russians confiscated their phones and isolated them from their relatives. The children have now been reunited with their biological aunt.
Background: On 11 February, four children aged 10 to 17 were rescued from occupied Kherson Oblast and brought back to Ukrainian-controlled territory. Some of them had been threatened by the Russians with forcible removal from their families.
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