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Five children of the children’s home with their mother and teacher were taken out of the occupation in Luhansk region
We managed to bring 5 children at once – an entire family-type orphanage (FTO) – with their mother, a caregiver, to the territory of free Ukraine! The family lived in a village in the Luhansk region, which at the beginning of the full-scale invasion was occupied by Russian troops. SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine, the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, the Luhansk Regional State Administration, and the Ukrainian Child Rights Network paved the way for the family to return home .
The opportunity to leave the occupation came when their grandmother died, and they could neither leave her there nor transport her safely to the territory of free Ukraine.
In fact, Podhayko’s family has six children. The eldest girl remained in the territory temporarily not controlled by the government of Ukraine because she has a love there and an adult, independent life. So the mother-caregiver left with 5 younger children, and this was her second attempt to escape.
The first attempt coincided with the entry into force of Putin’s order on September 29 on the procedure for entering and leaving the territory of the Russian Federation for Ukrainian citizens, when serious checks were carried out at the checkpoints. The children and their mother stood in line for three days and were not allowed to leave. Meanwhile, the so-called guardianship authorities of the so-called “lPR” began to search for the family, “worried” about them.
I had to stay at home. The children had to go to a Russian school. They studied as best they could. But at the same time, they managed to get an education under the Ukrainian online program. Until the occupiers learned about this and the family’s position in general. They held “educational conversations” and intimidated them.
Therefore, during the fall vacation, the Podhaikas decided to try to leave again, this time with the help of the “WAY HOME” project team. Together, they managed to move the family to Poltava. The UMDP member charitable organization SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine will help the Podhaikas to rent an apartment and take the family under its care.
“The family is good,” says Oleksandra, a social worker with the project. “They got very sick during the trip and had a hard time with the route. But, well done, they made it – in a day and a half they were already in Poltava. We are all happy, and I am, as always, happy to say to them: “Welcome home!”
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“The Way Home” is a project aimed at finding and returning children displaced to Russia or to the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine, as well as reuniting families whose children are without parents during the occupation. The project is implemented by the Ukrainian Child Rights Network in partnership with the international humanitarian organization Save the Children in Ukraine.
Our other partners are: Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, EDUKIDS Charitable Foundation, Media Initiative for Human Rights.
Join the “WAY HOME” project and make your contribution to the return of children, as it requires considerable resources.
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The materials developed within the project do not necessarily reflect the official position of Save the Children.