As part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative, 17 Ukrainian children and teenagers have been rescued from temporarily occupied territories, Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak announced on September 25.
Among them was a 17-year-old boy who was taken in the middle of the night by Russian soldiers for hours of interrogation at gunpoint—without his parents or legal representatives present. He was threatened and intimidated over his pro-Ukrainian views.
A 16-year-old girl was threatened with being taken away from her mother after refusing Russian documents and education under the occupation curriculum.
Another case involved a 15-year-old boy and his 13-year-old sister who miraculously survived a cluster munition strike. Later, the occupying authorities forced their family to choose: either the children attend a Russian school or the family would be expelled from their home.
“Today all the children are safe: they are receiving psychological support and can begin a new life in free Ukraine,” Yermak stressed.
He thanked the Save Ukraine organization and international partners for their role in rescuing the children, emphasizing that the President’s mission remains unchanged—to bring every Ukrainian child home.
Earlier, it was reported that In Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories, Russian authorities are tightening control over schoolchildren by checking their phones to block access to independent sources of information.
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