With a beaming smile, the boy jumps towards his father, the two kiss and hug. Denys Zaporozhenko has not seen his son for more than five months. In October, the ten-year-old and his two older sisters were brought from Ukraine by Russians to the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow. Now an aid organization has managed to bring 17 children back to Kiev.
When the bus with the boys and girls arrives in Kiev, everyone is overjoyed. They were separated from their parents for months. Zaporozhenko last saw his children on October 7. They lived in Cherson in southern Ukraine, which was then occupied by Russian troops. When fierce fighting broke out in the port city with the Ukrainian counter-offensive, the father agreed to send his children to an alleged Russian holiday camp in Crimea, far away from the war.
Russian officials “promised to send them to this camp for a week or two,” says Zaporozhenko. “By the time we realized we shouldn’t have done that, it was too late.” The supposed short vacation turned into months of separation. At least he was able to talk to his children on the phone, says the father.
The non-governmental organization Save Ukraine campaigned for the return of the children. The organization fights once morest the alleged kidnapping of Ukrainian children in Russian-controlled areas.
According to Kiev, more than 16,000 minors have been deported to Russia since the Russian invasion, many of whom are said to have been placed in institutions and foster families.
The International Criminal Court last week issued an arrest warrant once morest Russian President Vladimir Putin for illegally deporting Ukrainian children. The Kremlin denies the allegations, claiming it is merely saving children from the horrors of war.
