18-year-old Crimean man travels 3000 kilometers to return to Ukraine

Artem, an 18-year-old from Sevastopol, left the annexed peninsula for Kyiv to avoid being drafted into the Russian army. The young man traveled more than 3000 kilometers to get to the territory controlled by Ukraine.

Suspilne Crimea wrote about this story.

Despite years of living under occupation and pressure from the school administration because of his pro-Ukrainian views, the young man refused to pursue a career in Crimea. In particular, he did not study to become a journalist on the peninsula, considering the occupation profession to be part of propaganda, and chose to major in IT instead.

The main reason for his departure was the summons. Although the guy has kidney disease, the Russian military medical commission recognized him as fit for service. To avoid mobilization, Artem left secretly from his parents for Rostov, from where he headed for the Belarusian border. Ukrainian volunteers helped him coordinate his route.

In Belarus, the young man applied to the Ukrainian consulate, where he was issued a certificate of return to Ukraine. After passing checks at the checkpoint, he arrived in the government-controlled territory.

Artem has been in Kyiv for a month now. He is restoring his Ukrainian documents and preparing to enter the Faculty of Journalism. The guy explains his move by his unwillingness to serve in the army of the aggressor country and his desire to realize himself in a free profession.

As a reminder, the UN adopted a resolution on the return of Ukrainian children by Russia. The international community overwhelmingly supported the document, which condemns the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children and demands their immediate return, an end to forced adoptions and ideological indoctrination.

The resolution was supported by 91 countries, while 12 voted against, including Russia. Despite international efforts, only 1,850 children have been returned home so far, so the UN Secretary-General will coordinate the process of searching for and safely returning the rest, and Ukraine continues to cooperate with international partners.

Катерина Глушко