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Volodymyr Zelensky declared on April 28, 2023 that he had asked his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for help in returning Ukrainian children “deported” by Russia. Ukrainian authorities estimate their number at least 20,000. This is the testimony of a mother who recently found her daughters after seven months in Russia.
Report Anastasia Becchio
Constantly under Russian fire, the city of Vovchansk, halfway between Kharkiv and Belgorod in Russia, is a highly restricted area for security reasons. Therefore, Irina told her story over her phone to Anastasia Becchio, from the international service of RFI.
Last summer, during the Russian occupation, some teachers offered to send their two daughters to a summer camp in the Krasnodar region. At the end of August, Ksenia and Anastasia, 10 and 11 years old, left with a group of children: “I thought that the children would go to rest for 24 days,” Irina recalls. At that time, no one was aware that it would be very difficult to get the children back.
More than seven months to recover them
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian armed forces liberated the Kharkiv region and the children did not return as planned. Irina was convinced that her daughters would be safer in the south of Russia. The phone calls she received regularly reassured her, but it was not until April that she was able to get her daughters back with the help of the NGO Save Ukraine.
“When we got the children back, we traveled with children from Kherson who were in the Crimea,” Irina told RFI. bullying. My daughters were treated better,” she adds.
Back in her city with her daughters, Irina is considering the possibility of moving to another area less exposed to Russian fire. She also faces criticism from some neighbors who accuse her of being a collaborator for letting her daughters go to Russia. According to official figures, more than 360 children have recovered.
2023-05-01 11:11:22
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