The so-called "governor of Kherson region," Volodymyr Saldo, was notified of suspicion of organizing the illegal transfer of three Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied Kherson to Crimea. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General on October 26, UNN reports.
Under the pretext of providing health improvement treatment, the minors were taken away without their parents’ consent and later enrolled in an educational institution controlled by the occupiers.
Details
According to the investigation, in October 2022, Saldo instructed the occupation "ministry of education" to organize the transfer of children from educational institutions in the Kherson region to Crimea. To this end, the occupation administration announced school holidays and ordered the heads of the institutions to ensure that students were sent on so-called vacations. In particular, on October 7, 2022, three underage students of the Kherson Vocational Shipbuilding Lyceum were taken to temporarily occupied Crimea without their parents’ consent. The children were initially placed at the Druzhba camp in Yevpatoria and later transferred to another institution.
After the holidays ended, the teenagers were not returned home. Instead, in January 2023, they were enrolled without their parents’ consent at the Kerch Maritime Technical College, which was under the control of the occupation administration. According to the prosecutor’s office, the children were involved in military-patriotic activities at the college, exposed to Russian propaganda, and subjected to the imposition of a Russian identity.
In addition, one of the boys, who had a disability and a severe form of diabetes, was admitted to intensive care in Yevpatoria due to a lack of insulin and the untimely provision of medical assistance. He remained hospitalized for about three weeks.
Eventually, all three children were returned to territory controlled by Ukraine במסגרת the presidential initiative Bring Kids Back UA, with the assistance of the public organization Save Ukraine.
The Office of the Prosecutor General noted that, in addition to Saldo, two other individuals were notified of suspicion: the acting head of the lyceum controlled by the occupiers and a vocational training instructor. All three are charged with violating the laws and customs of war, committed by a group of persons acting in prior collusion (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
We remind you
In March 2026, the UN recognized Russia’s deportation of Ukrainian children as a crime against humanity.