Eleven Ukrainian children evacuated from occupation, including daughter of Azovstal defender freed after three years in captivity

Eleven children have been brought from Russian-occupied territories to areas under Ukrainian control, among them two orphans and children of Ukrainian service members.

Source: Ukrainian charitable organisation Save Ukraine

Anatolii, a teenage orphan, was among those evacuated from the temporarily occupied territories. He had suffered physical abuse at the hands of Russian soldiers after he found bullets in the forest. Anatolii was abducted in the middle of a school lesson, a bag was put over his head in the headteacher’s office, his hands were tied and he was taken to a basement. A week before his 18th birthday, he received a summons for conscription into Russian forces.

Another evacuee was Ostap, who had not seen his family for three years. His father serves in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and his older brother has spent 1,111 days in Russian captivity.

Among those rescued was the daughter of a female Azov defender. The girl’s mother, Marharyta, and older brother spent three years in Russian captivity. Back in 2022, Marharyta and her son had left the Azovstal steel plant together without knowing what had happened to each other until their release in April 2025.

Quote from Save Ukraine: "During the prisoner exchange, Marharyta accidentally encountered her son on the bus. But she had one more dream – to see her little girl again, who had remained in occupation as a baby.

Today, that dream has come true: the mother is finally reunited with her children and still can’t believe it’s not a dream."

Read more: Separated by war: Ukrainian soldier reunited with daughter after release from Russian captivity

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