Ukraine returns 13 children from Russian-occupied territories

On 12 September, the NGO Save Ukraine returned 13 more children from the Russian-occupied territories of Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts as part of its 11th rescue mission, the NGO's executive director, former Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Mykola Kuleba reported. "In total, we have returned 176 children to Ukraine in 11 rescue missions," Kuleba said. In his Telegram post, Kuleba also revealed some details of the children’s stories. “Olesia's mother hid her from the occupation authorities and fellow villagers for a whole year so that no one would find out that she was living with her and force her to study at a Russian school” “The divorced parents of Polina, Taras, and Matvii took different positions after the outbreak of the full-scale war: their mother supported Ukraine, and their father became pro-Russian. And it was the father who banned the mother from taking the children out of Russian-controlled territory. There, under occupation, the children were forced to attend Russian schools and threatened with the deprivation of their parental rights.”

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