Ukraine brings back two teenagers subjected to constant pressure and violence from occupation

Ukraine has brought back two teenagers from the territories temporarily occupied by Russia. The Russians threatened to mobilise the 18-year-old boy into their army, and the 17-year-old girl was forcibly taken to Russia.

Source: Bring Kids Back UA initiative

Details: The hometown of 17-year-old Oksana was occupied by the Russians in 2014. Then she and her mother were forcibly taken to Russia. There, the girl was constantly humiliated because of her Ukrainian heritage: she was not only bullied at school but also repeatedly beaten.

"Despite the daily pressure and violence, Oksana did not lose her desire to return to Ukraine. She tried several times to get home on her own, and during her last attempt, she spent four days on the road without food.

After that, Oksana turned for help to the team of the Ukrainian Child Rights Network, which helped to develop a safe route and draw up all the necessary documents," the statement said.

Today, the girl is already in Ukraine and plans to enter a higher education institution.

Another teenager who was brought back to Ukraine is 18-year-old Andrii.

"The constant moral pressure was accompanied by a real threat of mobilisation into the Russian army. Russian soldiers were watching the boy's house and harassing him.

The fact that one day he could be forced to fight against his own homeland was the biggest fear and motivation to leave," the human rights activists explain.

Andrii tried to escape on his own several times but to no avail. His sister managed to escape from the occupation earlier, and it was she who advised her brother to contact the Ukrainian Child Rights Network.

"This time, the attempt was successful: our team of partners made a safe route and helped the boy cross the border. Now Andrii is safe on the territory controlled by Ukraine, next to his sister," the statement said.

According to rough estimates by human rights activists, there are currently about 1.5 million Ukrainian children in the Russian-occupied territories.

Background: Earlier, a four-year-old girl was rescued from the occupied territories. In three years, the girl met her father for the first time.

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