Russians removed 84 wards from the Oleshky boarding facility: activists identify whereabouts of 46 children
Activists have identified the whereabouts of 46 wards of the Oleshky boarding facility in Kherson region, whom the Russians illegally removed after the occupation.
As Censor.NET reports, representatives of the independent humanitarian NGO Emile Foundation said this at a press conference at Ukrinform.
Whereabouts of 46 wards identified
According to the foundation's director general, Mariam Lambert, 69 children remained at the Oleshky boarding facility at the time of the occupation.
"We are working on the case of the Oleshky boarding facility, and at the time of the occupation, 69 children remained there. We managed to find 46 of them," she said.
Foundation representative Maria Lebedeva said that before the occupation, 101 wards were staying at the facility. In the first days of the occupation, parents were able to take 13 children, while four more wards died.
The Russians removed the remaining 84 residents of the boarding facility.
According to the foundation, 13 wards were later able to return. There is also testimony about the deaths of two more people after they were removed.
Where the boarding facility's wards are
According to activists, 69 wards currently remain in temporarily occupied territories or in Russia.
In particular, 15 wards are staying at a children's home in Skadovsk, which the occupation authorities have named the "Alyoshkinsky Internat."
Activists also established that at least 27 wards are highly likely to be in occupied Strilkove. The whereabouts of six of them are known for certain.
In addition, three wards are in Russia's Penza at a facility run by Sofiya, the sister of Russian children's ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova.
Another female ward is in Crimea with a Russian family.
Removal took place in three stages
According to Lebedeva, the first group of 16 wards was removed on October 21, 2022.
Another 12 people were transferred on November 4, while 56 wards were removed on November 11, 2022.
The transfer to Strilkove took place in 2023.
Relatives have not known the fate of the children for years
During the press conference, relatives of the boarding facility's wards shared their stories.
Anna Zamyshliaieva said she has not known for four years where her son Anton, who is now 24, is. He had severe consequences of a neuroinfection and required constant supervision by specialists.
Larysa, the grandmother of 22-year-old Maryna Branytska, who was born with cerebral palsy, has also had no information about her fate for four years. It is known only that the young woman was taken to Strilkove.
Oksana, a resident of Kherson region, also does not know the whereabouts of her daughter Anna, who has a disability.
Foundation representative Maria Lebedeva stressed that Russia has effectively "appropriated" these people with disabilities and does not want to return them.
