Five More Ukrainians Return From Occupied Territories

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) The“Bring Kids Back UA” initiative reported this on Facebook, according to Ukrinform.

As part of the Ukrainian President's“Bring Kids Back UA” initiative, the Helping to Leave team worked together to successfully return Natalia, Katya, and Maria (names changed for security reasons) to territory controlled by Ukraine.

Natalia and Katya are sisters from a large family. Their older brothers had left the temporarily occupied territory earlier, so the girls and their mother eventually decided to leave as well and turned to Helping to Leave for assistance. The team helped the family organize their route and accompanied them during their departure. With the assistance of the Coordination Headquarters, the sisters received permits to return to Ukraine and, together with their mother, successfully crossed the border.

Today, the family is in territory controlled by Ukraine and is reunited with their older brothers. The girls plan to continue their lives here.

Maria left a part of the Luhansk region occupied by Russia back in 2014. There, she managed to complete only one grade under the Ukrainian curriculum before being forced to study under the Russian one. Maria also reached out to Helping to Leave. The team helped plan her route, and with the assistance of the Coordination Headquarters, she received a return permit and was able to travel to territory controlled by Ukraine.

Maria is now back in Ukraine. She plans to finish 11th grade and then work and build her future here.

Also, as part of the President of Ukraine's“Bring Kids Back UA” initiative, thanks to the efforts of the Compass of Dreams NGO team, two more young people were successfully returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Eighteen-year-old Kyrylo (name changed for security reasons) had been living under occupation since 2014, when he was still a child. His family supported his desire to live and study in a free Ukraine. Therefore, even before reaching the age of majority, he enrolled remotely in a Ukrainian institution of higher education. The team at the“Compass of Dreams” NGO helped Kyrylo obtain the necessary documents and arranged his departure. Just one week after turning 18, he was able to leave the temporarily occupied territory and return to free Ukraine.

Read also: About 240,000 children to start first grade in Ukraine, 10% fewer than last year

Seventeen-year-old Maria (name changed for security reasons) was still a child when Russia occupied her hometown in 2022. The occupiers quickly closed Ukrainian schools, but she refused to attend a Russian school and, despite the risks, secretly continued her Ukrainian education online. Maria and her parents were pressured to obtain Russian passports, but the family refused. The pressure intensified when Russian soldiers came to their home, ostensibly to“get to know them.” Despite this, Maria remotely earned a Ukrainian high school diploma and enrolled in college under Quota-2. The young woman reached out to the NGO“Compass of Dreams” for help several months before her departure. After careful preparation, Maria, along with her grandmother, was able to leave the temporarily occupied territory. She is now in Chernivtsi and will begin her freshman year and a new life in a free Ukraine this September.

As reported by Ukrinform, at the end of August, 23 Ukrainians returned home from the temporarily occupied territories-including elderly peopl, citizens with limited mobility, Ukrainians with health issues, and families with children.

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