18-year-old Mariupol girl rescued and returned to Ukraine from Russian territory
Another child returned to Ukraine (Photo: Bring Kids Back UA / Facebook)
An 18-year-old girl has been returned to Ukraine from Russian territory, President's Office head Andriy Yermak said on Telegram on July 26.
An 18-year-old Ukrainian girl has returned from Russia as part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative. The girl had spent three years in Russia after her family was forced to flee Mariupol in 2022.
Yermak noted that throughout her time in Russia, the girl continued to study at a Ukrainian school online and began planning her return even before reaching adulthood. She crossed the border in recent days and is now safely back in Ukraine.
On July 8, seven more children — ranging in age from six to 17 — were returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory from areas temporarily occupied by Russia.
Ukrainian media earlier reported that the young woman had lived for a decade in Russian-occupied Makiivka, in Donetsk Oblast. Despite her parents' pro-Russian views and the pervasive presence of Russian propaganda in her city, she secretly studied at a Ukrainian school and learned the Ukrainian language.
Makiivka has been under Russian occupation since 2014. The girl spent most of her life in a city where Russian flags flew and Kremlin-backed messaging dominated public life. Yet she remained committed to her Ukrainian identity and made her way home as soon as she legally could.
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