In Crimea, the occupiers kidnapped parents and placed the child in an orphanage

In the city of Akyar (Sevastopol), Russian security forces abducted a couple, leaving their 9-year-old child in a social shelter. The family has gone missing, and their relatives know nothing about their fate.

According to Eskender Bariev , Chairman of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, the whole family - Oleg (husband) and Natalia (wife) - became victims of enforced disappearance:

"To forcibly kidnap parents and make a child an orphan is a case that needs to be addressed immediately. ... Relatives and friends are in complete bewilderment and do not know where their relatives are, whether they are alive, on what grounds they were detained, or what they are accused of. At the same time, they are shocked that their child ended up in a shelter," the human rights activist noted.

According to him, on April 9, 2025, Natalia took her child to school in the city of Akyar. After the second lesson, the school principal received a call: the parents would not come to pick up the child, and a police officer would take her to a shelter. Since then, no one has seen Natalia again, and her whereabouts are unknown.

On the same day, her husband Oleh, who was on a business trip to Alupka, was detained at a rented apartment. He was detained by eight FSB officers who took him to an unknown location. The director of the company where Oleg worked was informed that he was detained "under a political article" without specifying a particular one. His friends and acquaintances appealed to the FSB, but received only hints: they said that the case was political, and it was better to "keep it quiet."

Natalia and Oleh's phones are not answered, but in the evening they periodically appear on the Internet.

"It's scary to imagine what the detainees' children went through. When asked: "When will I be taken away from here?", "When can I go home?", "Where are my mom and dad and why am I here?", they answer that they do not know anything or that he will be there for at least 6 months until the status of his parents is established... and not a word more," Bariev noted.

This case, according to the expert, is a clear example of how Russia destroys families: people are abducted, and children are isolated and prepared for possible adoption by Russians.

"The impunity of the Russian-terrorist regime gives rise to new evil every time. For our part, we will closely monitor this case and do everything to make it known not only in Ukraine, but also around the world," the human rights activist emphasized.

Currently, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center is preparing documents for the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, as well as other international mechanisms.

Олеся Ланцман