Refused medical help for lacking Russian passport and trained for war: 34 more Ukrainian children brought back from occupation
A further 34 Ukrainian children and teenagers have been brought back from territories temporarily occupied by Russia. Due to strikes, they sustained psychological trauma and were subjected to coercion into serving in the Russian army.
Source: Bring Kids Back
Details: Sashko, 14, was evacuated from the occupied territories, where he had endured daily bullying by peers for being Ukrainian. The boy changed schools twice, but teachers deliberately ignored the harassment. He was also pressured to join pro-Russian youth movements.
Martyn, 8, sustained psychological trauma under Russian occupation after an enemy drone exploded in the courtyard of his home. When the boy fell seriously ill, paramedics refused to provide the necessary assistance because his mother did not have a Russian passport.
"The occupation authorities forced the family to send the boy to a Russian school, threatening them with an orphanage," the initiative added.
Artem, 19, from Crimea was openly coerced by the Russians into taking up arms and joining the ranks of the Russian army.
"Instead of preparing for exams, students were forced to attend meetings with Russian military personnel, were pressured into signing contracts, and had money collected from them for the needs of the occupation army," Bring Kids Back stated.
At the same time, thousands of Ukrainian children remain in occupation, where the Russians are intensifying pressure, attempting to erase children's Ukrainian identity, and preparing teenagers for military service.
The Back to Ukraine initiative previously established that Oleksandr Mustiatse, a Ukrainian who ended up in occupation as a child following the invasion, joined the ranks of the Russian forces.
The 19-year-old had published photographs featuring the Z symbol while wearing a Russian army uniform with a Russian flag, and shared images from positions. As the young man's page became inactive, the initiative suggested he may have been killed.
Activists subsequently managed to contact Oleksandr – he stated that he "had always been for Russia".
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