A case has been sent to court against a Russian military officer for the forced deportation of 15 Ukrainian children from Kherson region
Kyiv • UNN
The occupier organized the transportation of orphans from Novopetrivka to Anapa for propaganda purposes. The case of illegal transfer of minors has been sent to court.
An indictment has been sent to court against a Russian military serviceman who organized and personally participated in the forced removal of 15 Ukrainian children from occupied Novopetrivka in the Kherson region to Russia, where they were held and forced to participate in propaganda events. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, writes UNN.
Juvenile prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General have sent an indictment to court against a serviceman of the Russian Armed Forces who organized and personally participated in the illegal transfer of 15 Ukrainian children, who were subsequently deported to Russia.
This refers to events during the occupation of the village of Novopetrivka in the Kherson region. Fifteen children were staying at the local school: ten were deprived of parental care, three were orphans, and two more were in difficult life circumstances. The director and her husband took care of them.
From the beginning of the occupation, Russian military personnel controlled the institution: they conducted inspections, counted the children, and monitored the situation. When the director was looking for an opportunity to evacuate to the territory controlled by Ukraine, the Russian military found out about it.
The accused, along with other military personnel, arrived at the school, threatening with weapons. The director was interrogated, and to prevent their departure, three armed soldiers were left at the school.
The next day, he organized the forced removal of the children. Accompanied by armed soldiers, the children, along with the director and her husband, were transported to the village of Stepanivka, where they were held for about three months.
On October 19, 2022, they were moved further: by boat across the Dnipro to Oleshky, then by bus to Armyansk, and from there by train from Dzhankoy to Anapa, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, where they were placed in a children's institution.
In Russia, the children were forced to sing the anthem of the aggressor country, participate in propaganda events, were forbidden to speak Ukrainian and use national symbols, constantly being subjected to psychological pressure.
The investigation established that there were no grounds for the so-called "evacuation": the school had supplies of food, medicine, and shelter, and no active hostilities were taking place nearby.