“No mother nearby? For the occupiers, that’s enough reason to label a child as ‘abandoned’ and place them in an orphanage,” says Natalia.

She hadn’t seen her son in over three and a half years. He was trapped in occupied territory with his grandmother. Natalia tried everything to get him back — but the russians kept inventing new obstacles to prevent their reunification.

At first, they told her to come to Sheremetyevo Airport. But she knew what awaited her there: FSB officers, interrogations, filtration, and likely deportation with a ban on entering russia for decades. Then they started demanding endless paperwork — deliberately delaying the process.

Finally, the occupiers “recommended” that the grandmother strip Natalia of her parental rights. It was another trap. If that had happened, her son would have been declared an orphan and sent to a russian state orphanage.

We didn’t let that happen. Thanks to the Save Ukraine team, Natalia was finally able to hug her son again. Our specialists provided psychological support and helped the family with legal documentation.

Russian occupation authorities actively block the evacuation of children to Ukrainian-controlled territory. They create artificial barriers — from bureaucratic red tape to blackmail. They demand russian documents and, in some cases, even make stripping parents of their rights a condition for “allowing” the child to leave. These actions are blatant violations of the Geneva Convention (Articles 49 and 50) and international law.

There are thousands more stories like this. And we won’t stop. We fight every day to bring Ukrainian children back to where they belong — to the arms of those who love them.

📢 Share this story. Let the world know how much pain lies behind the word “occupation” — and how much it means to finally come home.