Three teenagers from TOT returned to Ukraine

An 18-year-old girl and her mother had been trying to leave occupied Crimea on their own for a long time. The family lacked funds for the trip. They constantly changed their place of residence to avoid persecution.

A 19-year-old girl who had lived under occupation since 2022 also returned. After graduating from school, she was forced to enter a university in Crimea or the Russian Federation, but she dreamed of returning to the controlled territory of Ukraine and obtaining a higher education there.

The third of those rescued is a 19-year-old boy who dreamed of leaving the occupation, but was afraid to take this step. He was afraid that he would be detained at some checkpoint, forcibly mobilized into the Russian army, and forced to fight against his own state.

To learn more about Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children, watch the documentary "Damaged Childhood," created by Ukrainian independent media and video production company Online.UA: