Russian-abducted Mariupol teenager Yermokhin comments on attitude towards him in Russia

Bohdan Yermokhin, 18, who was deported from Ukraine’s Mariupol to Russia but managed to leave the country, has described how he was treated in Russia.

Source: Bohdan Yermokhin in an interview with Radio Liberty

Details: To the question of how his classmates and fellow students treated him, Yermokhin responded:

Quote: "Not very well... Even rather mean. But since I'm not a weak guy, they didn't openly insult me.

I am a 'khokhol', as they said, and I should head back [khokhol is a derogatory word the Russians use to insult Ukrainians]. So, I basically did.

...I must say that things were not so bad in the family. Irina Rudnitskaya, my guardian, made it very clear at the very end that she was only in favour of me leaving. She supported me, helped me and let me go. In general, she is a good person.

...The fact that I was among the enemy, who were so patriotic about their country and who were setting me against my own country, made me feel an internal struggle inside.

On the one hand, you understand that you need to speak out, but on the other hand, you know that you cannot do that. Your homeland is different, and people are waiting for you at home."

More details: The young man added that for the first six months after his deportation, he was "recovering" from what happened in Mariupol.

Quote: "I didn't even realise where or who I was. But when I got over it, I realised that I was not at home, I was uncomfortable. And when I arrived (to the Ukraine-controlled territory – ed.), I started feeling like a human being, freer and more open."

More details: The last time he saw Mariupol, it was utterly destroyed.

Quote: "The city is in ruins. I call it a ghost town because so many people were killed there.

I lived in the only nine-storey building in the whole district and saw all the explosions and [military] vehicles coming. It was scarier than for those who did not see it.

...Everyone was hiding in the basement. We ate whatever we could find, whatever we had in stock. People in neighbouring houses asked for water, and my friend and I decided: why not? We went to get some water for ourselves, so why not bring it to people on the way? They would give us bottles, and we would then load them and bring them back. And that's it.

...I saw explosions, and every second house was destroyed – either wholly or partially. There were about 30 dead people in every yard. They were buried right there in the yard. It was like that."

Background:

• The Russians deported Bohdan Yermokhin, who was 16 at the time, from Mariupol in 2022.  He ended up in a children's health centre in Moscow Oblast.
• In July 2022, he was placed under the care of Irina Rudnitskaya, a Russian national and veteran of the Chechen war. Afterwards, the young man sought help from a lawyer.
• Bohdan, who turned 18 on 19 November, said he received a draft notice requiring him to report to the Moscow Oblast military enlistment office on 19 December 2023.
• Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian President’s Commissioner for Children's Rights, who is the subject of an ICC arrest warrant, claimed that the young man would be sent home the following week.
• In early November, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, reported that Ukraine had arranged to bring Bohdan back.
• On 19 November, reports emerged that Yermokhin had arrived in Belarus and was staying there with his sister.

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