Zelenskyy comments on deported young man’s return: There were many attempts to help him

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked everyone involved in bringing home Bohdan Yermokhin who was deported from the occupied city of Mariupol by the Russians. Bohdan turned 18 on 19 November.

Source: the President's evening address

Quote: "Separately I would like to thank everyone whose concern and efficiency help us return children who were abducted from the occupied territory to Ukraine. 

Today we managed to return to Ukraine Bohdan Yermokhin, a boy who was taken from Mariupol to Russia. 

There were many attempts to help him. I am glad that everything worked out. I am grateful to the entire team working on the return of Ukrainian children – the Office, the Ombudsman, and our international partners, including UNICEF. I am especially grateful to Qatar for its effective mediation and assistance. Thank you!"

Background:

• Bohdan Yermokhin, a teenager who had been deported from Russian-occupied Mariupol in southern Ukraine to the Russian Federation, where he received a draft notice, returned to Ukraine on Sunday.
• Russian occupation authorities deported Bohdan, then 16, from Mariupol in 2022. He was placed in a children’s health centre in Moscow Oblast.
• In July 2022, Bohdan was placed under the guardianship of Irina Rudnitskaya, a Chechen War veteran. Around that time, Bohdan sought help from a lawyer.
• With his 18th birthday approaching on 19 November 2023, Bohdan received a draft notice and was told to report to a military enlistment office in Moscow Oblast on 19 December 2023.
• In early November, Dmytro Lubinets reported that Ukraine had arranged to bring Bohdan back to Ukraine.
• On the morning of 19 November, it was reported that Bohdan had flown to Belarus.

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