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Kyiv (CNN) A group of 31 Ukrainian children have been reunited with their families months after being displaced from their homes and moved to the Russian-occupied territory.
CNN’s team on the ground in Kiev watched the last of the children step off the bus to hug waiting families on Saturday.
“We went to summer camp for two weeks and were stuck for six months,” said Bogdan, 13, one of the homecoming teenagers, as he hugged his mother. “She cried when she saw her from the bus. I’m so happy to be back.”
Bogdan’s mother, Irina, 51, said she had received little information about her son during the six months she had been away.
“The phone didn’t go through. I was so worried. I didn’t know if he was being abused or what was going on with him….My hands are still shaking,” she said. Told.
Anastasia with her daughter Valeria and son Maxim in Kiev, Ukraine on April 8, 2023.
The reunion was coordinated by the humanitarian organization Save Ukraine. The group says it has completed five missions to repatriate Ukrainian children allegedly deported by Russia.
The children, hauling suitcases, bags of belongings and some carrying stuffed animals, crossed the border on foot the day before, were greeted by volunteers and put on buses to the Ukrainian capital.
“Thanks to our joint and coordinated work, we can once again experience incredible emotions when long-separated children run home and are cradled in the arms of their families. You will realize that everything is not in vain when you see tears of joy on the faces of young Ukrainians, ”Save Ukraine founder Mykola Kleba said at a press conference on Saturday.
According to Kuleba, a tragedy happened during the rescue operation. Her grandmother, one of the women traveling with the party, died during the trip. The woman was supposed to pick up her two children on a mission, but her death prevented them from returning to Ukraine.
The founders previously stated that the mission is made up of a group of 13 mothers who left Ukraine about a week ago, many of whom have signed powers of attorney allowing them to adopt other parents’ children in addition to their own. said to have given
After crossing to Poland, the group passed through Russian Belarus and eventually entered Russian-occupied Crimea, where they were reunited with their 24 children.
The remaining seven children were all gathered in Voronezh, Rostov, and Belgorod in Russia.
Allegations of deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia form the basis of war crimes brought against Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior official Maria Lviva Belova by the International Criminal Court last month.
A report released in February made claims of an extensive network of dozens of camps where children received “political re-education”, including Russia-centric academic, cultural and, in some cases, military education. detailed.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office recently estimated the total number of children forcibly removed from their homes to be at least 20,000. Kiev said thousands of cases were already under investigation.
Russia denies doing anything illegal, claiming it is bringing Ukrainian children to safety.
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