A group of eight Ukrainian children has been brought back from Russian-occupied territories to areas controlled by Ukraine. Some of them endured bullying and threats of being separated from their families, and witnessed interrogations of relatives.

Source: Bring Kids Back initiative

Details: The youngest, 18-month-old Yaroslav, was almost taken from his mother by Russian forces at a filtration checkpoint. The Russians tried to separate the child from his mother after discovering a contact with a Ukrainian soldier on her phone.

Myroslav also managed to escape with his family. After the full-scale invasion began, they were taken under the guise of "evacuation" to a hangar, where they were forced to obtain Russian documents.

Polina, 17, is now safely on Ukrainian-controlled territory. She witnessed Russian troops storm her family home and brutally beat and interrogate her relatives.

In schools under occupation where Russian curricula were imposed, 16-year-old Zlata and 13-year-old Yeva were bullied for speaking Ukrainian.

"The occupiers forcibly enrolled Yeva in the Movement of the First – an organisation that militarises children and prepares them for service in the aggressor state's army. Her adult sister with a child was also 'evacuated' to Russia, where she ended up in a psychiatric hospital," Bring Kids Back reported.

Matvii, 10, was also able to leave the occupied territory. His father refused Russian documents and taught him at home following the Ukrainian school programme. The boy was hidden indoors to prevent Russian authorities from forcing him to attend schools where Russian curricula had been introduced.

"Today all the rescued children are safe, receiving assistance to restore their documents, psychological support and the necessary care to start a new chapter in their lives," the initiative added.

Background: Earlier, Ukraine successfully brought back a 20-year-old man who had spent nearly half his life in Russian-occupied Crimea.

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