Siblings returned from the occupation

Maksym, 3, and Anastasia, 5, crossed the border with their mother last Saturday.
Now they are on the territory of free Ukraine.

The village in the Kherson region where the family lived after the start of the full-scale invasion quickly found itself under occupation.
In addition to the constant stress of the war, the mother and her children were subjected to domestic violence by their father. The man abused alcohol.

To save her children, the woman packed her belongings a few months ago and fled the house with her kids.

The family was given shelter by relatives in Crimea. As it turned out, it was not for long. One day, the mother and her two children were confronted with the fact that you have two days to leave the apartment.

Specialists of the Ukrainian Child Rights Network and Helping to Leave helped the family to leave the occupied Crimea in an emergency.

Now the family is starting a completely new life in a free Ukraine.

Names have been changed for security reasons.

The return takes place within the framework of Bring Kids Back UA

The Way Home is a project aimed at finding and returning children displaced to the Russian Federation 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 Save the Children in Ukraine.
Our other partners are: Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine, EDUKIDS Charitable Foundation, Media Initiative for Human Rights.

The materials developed within the project do not necessarily reflect the official position of Save the Children.