Russian social services took 9-year-old Vsevolod from his parents and took him to one of the children’s institutions in Melitopol. Here he was kept alone in a closed room for a long time, and later he was forcibly put on russian camouflage and ordered to learn the russian language.

His sister Svitlana can’t recall the life of her younger brother without tears. Because Vsevolod had to go through a lot of difficulties from the very birth. The boy was born prematurely and needed medication to survive and grow up. When Seva returned from the hospital, it was Svitlana who took up his upbringing and did all necessary for his recovery. However, the boy continued to live with dysfunctional parents, each time running away from home mess to his loving sister.

For 4 years, Svitlana fought for the deprivation of parental rights of Vsevolod’s parents in order to take care of her brother on her own. But all the legal processes came to naught because of the war and the establishment of the occupation authorities in the region. The russians began to frequently visit Svitlana for interrogations, so she had to separate from Vsevolod and flee the occupation with her children.

Seva stayed with his parents. But very quickly the social services of the occupation authorities took him to a boarding school. And since the beginning of 2023, the boy has been actively brainwashed in a russian educational institution. During half a year of such drills, Vsevolod, who had communicated exclusively in Ukrainian all his life, has begun to speak Russian. What is the secret of such quick changes? The cause is pressure and emotional abuse. While studying Ukrainian children learned russian by turns under the personal supervision of a psychologist, director, and teacher. Disobedience was severely punished. Many times Seva stood in a corner for an hour with a table or books in his hands.

In addition, the boy was insulted by older children. With bruises on his face, arms, and legs, Vsevolod miraculously managed to get in touch with his sister on the phone. Svitlana promised that she would do anything to return her brother to Ukrainian territory. But when the woman had submitted a request for permission to take Seva to the moscow department, the russians forbade her to communicate with her brother and didn’t give him a phone anymore.

At this time, the boy is sent for the so-called “rehabilitation” in Crimea, and then the father-collaborator takes him from the boarding school for a probationary period. However, as early as September 1, the boy could again get into the hands of the russian social services. So Svitlana had to act quickly and decisively.

The woman didn’t accept the offer of the russians to obtain a passport of the russia and live in the territory of the aggressor, in order to, perhaps, one day she would get custody of her brother. Instead, Svitlana called the Save Ukraine team, and on August 23, she followed Seva on a long journey through russia as part of our 11th rescue mission. Svitlana had to go through hours of interrogations, fear, and pressure only to fulfill her promise to her brother.

On that significant day for both of them, Seva asked his parents for a walk, where he finally saw his sister after 1.2 years of separation. Their meeting is one of the most emotional reunion moments our team has seen. Now you can see it in this video.

Despite the problem at the Belarusian border, Svitlana managed to bring her brother to Ukraine. When Seva had seen the Ukrainian flag, he quickly ran to the station without looking back.