The organizer of the forced removal of 15 pupils from the Novopetrivka special school from occupied Mykolaiv region to Russia has been exposed. The Prosecutor General's Office, together with the SBU, announced suspicion to a Russian Armed Forces serviceman, UNN reports.
Details
Law enforcement officers found out that the organization of the deportation of 15 pupils of the Novopetrivka special school from the occupied Mykolaiv region to Russia was carried out by a representative of the occupying forces - a serviceman of the 2nd Airborne Assault Battalion of the 108th Regiment of the 7th Airborne Division of the 58th Army of Russia.
Context
During the occupation of Novopetrivka, 15 children remained in the school: orphans, children deprived of parental care, and children in difficult life circumstances. They were under the care of the director and her husband, who tried to ensure their safety.
According to the prosecutor's office, the occupying army's soldiers regularly came to the school, checked the premises, and counted the children.
When they learned about the director's intention to evacuate them to the territory controlled by Ukraine, the suspect and his subordinates threatened her with weapons, interrogated her, and set up a guard at the school.
The very next day, the defendant ordered the forced removal of the children, along with the director and her husband, to Stepanivka in the Kherson region. There, the captives were illegally held for about three months.
In October 2022, the children were moved further: by boat across the Dnipro to Oleshky, by bus to Armyansk, then by train to Anapa. In Russia, they were placed in a children's institution, forced to sing the Russian anthem, participate in propaganda, and forbidden to speak Ukrainian. The children were constantly subjected to psychological pressure and indoctrinated with pro-Russian views.
The investigation established that there were no real grounds for "evacuation" — the school had supplies of food, medicine, and a shelter, and no hostilities were taking place nearby.
It is important to note that all 15 children have already been returned home as part of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative.
Recall
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has returned more than 1,600 children illegally taken to Russia. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasizes the need for international support to return about 19,500 children who are estimated to still be in Russia.