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A servicewoman’s son returned home
Today, the son of a Ukrainian servicewoman, who had remained in occupation for the past three years, was returned home. The return took place within the framework of the initiative of the President of Ukraine Bring Kids Back UA and thanks to the coordinated work of our partners Ukrainian Child Rights Network.
Before the full-scale invasion, Vitaliy lived with his mother and grandmother in Svatove, Luhansk region. After the full-scale invasion, the town was under constant shelling by Russia and in March 2022 came under occupation. From the first days of the war, the boy’s mother went to defend Ukraine in the Armed Forces. Vitaliy stayed with his grandmother. Two weeks ago, the boy’s grandmother died, and the child found himself alone in the occupied city, under the threat of deportation and placement in a Russian boarding school.
Vitaliy’s mother contacted the Ukrainian Child Rights Network hotline with a request to help return her son. Time was running out, but experts quickly drew up a safe route and began the evacuation.
Yesterday, Vitaliy’s mother, accompanied by the UMDPL psychologist, met him at the Ukrainian border. Now he is home, safe, on the territory of free Ukraine.
The child’s name has been changed for security reasons.
UMDP, in partnership with SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit Hermann-Gmeiner-Fonds Deutschland e.V., implements the project of return and support of deported children and youth “The Way Home: A New Route”.
Each return is a victory that brings us step by step closer to our great goal of bringing all Ukrainian children home.