Disabled Ukrainian woman abducted by Russians from Oleshky care home goes missing in Russia

Relatives and acquaintances have lost contact with Anastasiia Mamotiuk, a Ukrainian citizen who was abducted by Russian forces from the Oleshky psychoneurological care home and taken to Russia.

Source: Emile Foundation, a humanitarian organisation

Details: Emile Foundation told Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia (Life) that contact with Mamotiuk was lost while arrangements were being made for her return to Ukraine.

The Russians occupied the Oleshky care home in Kherson Oblast in the very first days of the full-scale invasion and began deporting its residents in 2022. In November 2023, Anastasiia was among three adults taken to Penza, Russia.

Oleksandr Danylchuk, one of the residents who subsequently returned to Ukraine, said they were told about the relocation just one day before leaving. They were not asked whether they wanted to go to Russia.

Anastasiia and the others were moved to Novye Berega (New Shores), an assisted living facility for people with disabilities run by Sofia Lvova-Belova, the sister of Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights.

Danylchuk said he told Sofia Lvova-Belova that he wanted to return to his friends and family in Ukraine, but Russian officials publicly claimed that the abducted Ukrainians did not want to go home.

Despite being illegally taken to Russia, Anastasiia remained in contact with people in Ukraine: Viacheslav Shchyrskyi, her foster father in the House of Stefan family, whom she regarded as her own family; a former teacher at the care home; and Oleksandr Danylchuk.

Shchyrskyi had previously sought the organisation's help in securing Anastasiia's return to Ukraine. He is close to her and plans to become her legal guardian. Together with the foundation, he prepared and submitted official appeals to Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and Russia's commissioner for human rights.

The Emile Foundation says Anastasiia repeatedly said she wanted to return to Ukraine and that she feared for her own safety in Russia. She cannot yet leave the country because she is waiting for the passport she needs to travel, the foundation said.

Maria Lvova-Belova released a video of the young woman on 16 September. According to the organisation, the video provides no way to assess the Ukrainian woman's health or the circumstances in which it was recorded and cannot replace direct, confidential communication with her.

Over the last few days, direct contact with her has been lost. As of 1 October, three former residents of the Oleshky care home – Anastasiia Mamotiuk, Viktoriia Markeliuk and Anastasiia Yavorska – are still in Penza, the Emile Foundation has learned.

The foundation is calling for an immediate, independent assessment of Anastasiia's safety and health, the confidentiality of communication to be ensured, direct contact to be restored, and international support to be provided for her return.

Mariam Lambert, CEO and co-founder of the Emile Foundation, says Nastia must never be used as a pawn in political bargaining. She says Nastia is a woman with a disability who has the right to safety, dignity and the freedom to make decisions about her own life.

Lambert says that, for the first time, none of those helping Nastia return to Ukraine have been able to contact her. She says an independent assessment of Nastia's condition and safety, the restoration of communication, and concrete diplomatic action to ensure her safe return to Ukraine are urgently needed.

At the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, 101 people were living at the Oleshky care home, including children and adults with various forms of disability. Most were not orphans or children deprived of parental care.

In October 2022, the Russian military began moving the residents to different institutions. In total, Russia abducted 84 people, 13 of whom their families managed to bring back.

One of the care home's residents was taken away and ended up with a Russian family – a Russian soldier who had fought against Ukraine tried to adopt her.

The foundation said that the lack of a legal mechanism for the return of adults with disabilities is one of the main obstacles to bringing them back.

According to Lambert, a permanent international humanitarian mechanism should be established to facilitate the return of adults, with the involvement of intermediary countries.

Previously: Two Russian-installed Donetsk officials are suspected of deporting 31 Ukrainian children to Russia for "medical treatment".

Lvova-Belova said a Ukrainian teenager abducted from Mariupol and "adopted" by her would become a prosecutor.

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