The Save Ukraine team has returned six more Ukrainian children and their families from the Russian occupation.

It is hard for families to recall what they experienced, but we must talk about the crimes committed by the Russian Federation on our land.

Marina met the beginning of a full-scale invasion while on maternity leave with one-year-old Sofiika in her arms. The first months were the most difficult for the family because, against the background of enormous stress, the daughter and mother could neither eat nor sleep. Russian fighters flew over the village at the level of power lines. Constant searches began: the military entered every house and checked everything. Later, the occupiers forced locals to take Russian passports. Our people were not even allowed to pass through a checkpoint without them.

Olena and her sons lived 10 km from the front line. The woman remembers that morning, February 24, very well. She went out on the porch in her nightgown and heard explosions — she was scared. The woman woke up the boys and hid with them in a barn for several days from shelling. After a week, the village was completely occupied. They didn’t go anywhere for two months and went to the city for the first time only at the end of April to buy groceries. It was scary all the time. But in the summer, total filtering began. FSB officers came, interrogated, searched for something, and forced to send children to study in a Russian school. So, there was no choice — Olena and her sons had to leave their native home.

We are forever grateful to our biggest partners, #WeAreAllUkrainians and Charity fund ‘Humanity’, and all our partners for supporting our missions to save children. As of today, we managed to return 290 children from Russia and TOT to Ukraine. Together, we change destinies and build a better world for the future.

P.S. The names of the characters have been changed for security purposes