Ukraine returned three more children from the Russian occupation

This was reported by the head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak.

According to him, it was possible to do this thanks to the initiative of the President of Ukraine Bring Kids Back UA.

The first family to be returned was a young family from Mariupol. At the time of the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the eldest son was only four years old, and in September 2022, a daughter was born to the family.

It is noted that due to the fact that the father of the family is a soldier of the Armed Forces, the whole family was under threat and hid for more than two years to avoid persecution.

“Today, a six-year-old boy, his two-year-old sister and their parents left danger behind. They are starting a new page of life,” the message reads.

Another family – two parents and their six-month-old son – lived in their native village in the south of Ukraine when the great war began. Father went to defend the country in the ranks of the Armed Forces, but a few months later he was captured by the Russians, after which he lost contact with his relatives. In captivity, the man was tortured: the occupiers beat him, used electric shocks and forced him to sing the Russian national anthem.

The mother, who stayed at home with her young son, was forced to hide from the Russians.

When the father was returned from captivity, the family was still not released from the occupied territories and taken to interrogations, but after numerous attempts the family managed to be reunited.

“The son, who was told about his father-hero, now has the opportunity to see him next to him,” Yermak wrote.

Earlier, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, reported that Ukraine returned 1,002 children from Russia and the temporarily occupied territories.