An eight-year-old boy and two eighteen-year-old orphans, facing the threat of conscription into the ranks of the Russian army, have been successfully repatriated from the Russian-occupied area of Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast, Save Ukraine charity founder Mykola Kuleba reported on Facebook on Dec. 24.

The eight-year-old, Yelysei, had resided with his grandmother in occupied Kherson Oblast since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion, Kuleba said.

Read also: Ministry helps reunite three more children with families in government-controlled parts of Ukraine

“The mother lived in Odesa,” he said.

“After the grandmother passed away, the [Russian] occupation authorities placed the child in an orphanage. Due to the mother’s health constraints, she could not personally travel to retrieve her son, so her cousin stepped in to bring the boy back. Despite possessing all the required documents, the child was not handed over to her, and no explanation was provided.”

The charity workers offered medical assistance to the mother, enabling her to travel and reunite with her child.

“During the journey, the woman had to go through many hours of interrogations by the FSB, interviews, and overcome obstacles,” Kuleba said.

Read also: Russians detain three teenagers in occupied Melitopol – Mayor

Two 18-year-old brothers, Andrii and Mykhailo, also managed to return to the controlled territory, together with Yelysei. The young men are orphans who were raised in a foster family in the occupied territory of Kherson Oblast.

“After reaching adulthood, the boys realized that the occupation authorities would soon conscript them to fight against their own people,” Kuleba said.

“In Ukraine, they were both classified as missing persons.”

The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant on March 17 for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on charges of committing war crimes in connection with the abduction of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution recognizing the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia as genocide on April 27.

The Assembly also announced on Nov. 27 that it had set up a special committee on the violation of the rights of Ukrainian children by Russians.

Read also: Lithuanian leader calls for more support to ensure return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska reported on Dec. 9 that Ukraine had managed to return 387 children through third countries – from almost 20,000 kidnapped by Russians.

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