Ukrainian teenager from Mariupol whom Russians called up is sent to Belarus

Bohdan Yermokhin, 17, who was illegally deported from the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol and served with a military draft notice in Russia, has arrived in Belarus and is currently there with his sister.

Source: Vyorstka, a Russian-language online media outlet, citing Yermokhin and his lawyer Kateryna Bobrovska; Tatyana Moskalkova, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Russian Federation, on Telegram

Details: The Russian authorities had reportedly promised to take Yermokhin to a "third country" to meet a relative before he turned 18 (by 19 November). But on 13 November, Yermokhin posted on Instagram that he still hadn’t been given any details of the upcoming trip. "Give me an answer or any information on this," he demanded.

Ukrainska Pravda asked the lawyer and Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets to verify this information, but they had not responded at the time of this story being posted.

Russian ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova later confirmed that the Russians had brought Yermokhin from Moscow to Minsk.

She posted photos and videos confirming this. In the video, Yermokhin thanked everyone who had helped him get out of Russia and said that "everything was fine" while he was there.

"Now I am at the airport [in Moscow – ed.], on my way to Minsk. I want to say to everyone who helped me: I was loved here, and everything was fine. But this is what I want. Thanks again, everyone. See you later," says Yermokhin.

Background:

• The Russians deported Bohdan Yermokhin, who was 16 at the time, from Mariupol in 2022.  He ended up in a children's health centre in Moscow Oblast.
• In July 2022, he was placed under the care of Irina Rudnitskaya, a Russian national and veteran of the Chechen war. Afterwards, the young man sought help from a lawyer.
• Bohdan, who turned 18 on 19 November, said he received a draft notice requiring him to report to the Moscow Oblast military enlistment office on 19 December 2023.
• Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian President’s Commissioner for Children's Rights, who is the subject of an ICC arrest warrant, claimed that the young man would be sent home the following week.
• In early November, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, reported that Ukraine had arranged to bring Bohdan back.

Support UP or become our patron!