12 children have been returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine from the occupation.
This was reported by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets.
The children and their families lived in the TOT in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson Regions.
‘Fortunately, they are now on the territory controlled by Ukraine. Each family has experienced the chaos caused by the occupation ‘authorities’ in its own way,’ Lubinets wrote.
He added that the families said they were forced to take Russian passports, because without the ‘new documents’, citizens had no rights and could not enjoy any social guarantees or medical care. Doctors do not even accept children with birth defects who need careful attention. However, parents are offered to send their children for ‘rehabilitation’, which is often deportation or forced displacement. Some children had to attend ‘Russian schools’, where they were actively campaigning for the ‘Russian world’.
According to the returnees, Russians on the TOT detain, beat, torture with electricity, exert psychological pressure on adults, and interrogate children without their parents' presence, also using torture methods. They also regularly conduct unreasonable searches in the homes of local residents.
‘I was impressed by the story of a returned boy who, planning his future, left the TOT because he wants to become a Ukrainian saviour and get an education in a dream higher education institution,’ the Ombudsman wrote and added that it was the feeling of disempowerment, limitation, and awareness of what the future holds for children that prompted the families to leave for the territory controlled by Ukraine.
The families visited the Child Protection Centre. They were interviewed by a competent multifunctional team who recorded the crimes they had witnessed or been victims of.
If a child goes missing, you should call 102 or contact the Ombudsman's office:
Hotline 0 800 50 17 20 - within Ukraine, 044 299 74 08 - for calls from abroad, e-mail address: [email protected].