A 13-year-old Ukrainian boy who crossed into Russia from Finland in January has been returned to his family in Kyiv after spending more than eight months in a Russian children's home, according to a Reuters report.
Dmytro, whose family fled the war to Finland, walked nine kilometers to the Russian border after being influenced by online gamers. He was detained, interrogated, and sent to a shelter in St. Petersburg, where he remained until his return to Kyiv earlier this month.
The boy's journey began in early 2022 when his family escaped Mariupol as Russian troops advanced, initially fleeing to Russia before volunteer groups helped them reach Finland. Struggling with the culture and language, Dmytro left school one day in January and walked to the border, evading Finnish guards and crossing through a forest.
Russian authorities detained him immediately. "They tightened the handcuffs on me so much that my wrists were swollen," Dmytro said. "They pressed my shoulder to the ground with the muzzle of an automatic rifle, not allowing me to stand up."
After hours of interrogation, officials sent him to a children's shelter in St. Petersburg. By then, he had changed his mind about staying in Russia but was too afraid to speak up.
"The Russians would come and ask: 'Why don't you like Russia? Why don't you live in Russia? After you turn 18 you can study and work here,'" he said. "I just agreed with them and said 'Of course, of course, sure.' I just waited to go home."
Dmytro was allowed weekly phone calls with his mother. She spent three months speaking to shelter officials with no results before appealing to ombudsmen in both Ukraine and Russia. "Kyiv and Moscow started working together directly," she said.
The boy traveled by train to Moscow, then by plane to Minsk, before continuing to Kyiv, where his mother had returned from Finland to meet him.
Dmytro was among seven children returned to Kyiv earlier this month. Ukrainian officials say around 19,500 young Ukrainians are being held in Russia against their will. Rights advocates say many Ukrainian children have been deported and put up for adoption. The Kremlin says it is protecting them from war.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, his Commissioner for Children's Rights, accusing them of unlawful deportation of children, a war crime. Russia does not recognize the court's jurisdiction. Lvova-Belova did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statements by Dmytro and his mother.
Russia has repeatedly denied deporting Ukrainian children throughout the war, saying it has acted to keep them safe from fighting.
US first lady Melania Trump has said that since her husband passed on a letter from her to Putin at their summit in August, she and the Russian leader have an "open channel of communication" about the welfare of child victims of the war.
Ukrainian officials said they hoped it would bring results. "The only result we want is for our children to be returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory," said Oksana Chervyakova, representative of Ukraine's Ombudsman for children's rights.
