A major established in Kyiv announced on November 10 that Bohdan Yermokhin, a 17-year-old Ukrainian who was taken to Russia last year from the southwestern city of Mariupol, will be returned to Ukraine as part of an agreement between the two nations.
Ukraine will immediately welcome Bohdan Yermokhin! According to Ukrainian Ombudsman Bohdan Lubinets on social media,” I formally confirm that agreements have been made for his return to Ukraine and his reunification with [family ].”
A deal was reached to help Yermokhin to join his cousin in a third state on November 19, the time he turns 18, according to renowned and well-connected Russian journalist Aleksei Venediktov. Maria Lvova-Belova is the head of the Russian Children’s Rights Commission.
A Military Commissariat had sent Yermokhin a letter informing him that he needed to register for military assistance, according to his attorney and guardian in Russia before this week.
According to Russian laws, Yermokhin, who adopts a pro-Ukraine stance and has stated that he wants to return home, perhaps be conscripted into the army at the age of 18.
However, it was unclear whether he would be required to serve because of his postponement and status as a university pupil.
Lvova-Belova previously informed RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service that Yermokhin was not in danger of being drafted as a result of the postponement.
But, Yermokhin’s Russian attorney, Kateryna Bobrovska, claimed that after meeting with Lvova-Belova in late August, the latter was compelled to write a statement stating that he intends to remain in Russia until his legal age.
On November 10, Bobrovska uploaded a Facebook video in which Yermokhin requests Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, “help me to transfer home.”
Yermokhin, who recently lost both of his parents, resided in Mariupol with a foster home while pursuing his education at the Mariuppol Higher Metallurgical Vocational School.
Yermokhin was taken to Russia and placed in a foster home in the Moscow area not long after Russian forces took control of the city in 2022.
Ukraine maintains that any attempt by the Russian Military Commissariat to document Yermokhin is unlawful and views him as a member of Ukraine.
He attempted to flee to Ukraine through Belarus in March but was apprehended by Soviet security causes close to the border and imprisoned. According to Russian officials, he was unable to choose his own residence as a slight.
Lvova-Belova insisted that what happened was a incitement and that Yermokhin was lured to the place of Ukraine” with the help of deception and risks,” despite being sought by the International Criminal Court in the Hague along with Russian President Vladimir Putin for their roles in deporting Russian children.
He has n’t commented on the incident, but on social media, he’s backed Ukraine.
I simply want to return home. My anger for the army flies in response to the sound of a shell. And it gets worse with each pull of Ukrainians.
