According to Ukrainian authorities, at least a thousand children were abducted from schools and orphanages in Kherson, which was occupied by the Russians for 8 months. Local residents stated that the abduction of many children was prevented.

Due to the kidnapping allegations, Ukrainians took action to protect the children.

Doctors Try to Protect Children by Issuing False Documents

Children's hospital staff in Kherson kept false records of the health of 11 babies to prevent them from being sent to orphanages.

Dr Olga Pilyarska said in a statement: “We have deliberately written false information that the children are sick and cannot be transferred. We were afraid the Russians would understand this. But we were determined to save the children at all costs.”

Volodymyr Sahaidak, director of the Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation in the Stepanivka village of Kherson, said that he had forged documents to hide 52 children in the center from the Russians. Sahaidak noted that he placed some children living in the center with the employees, that many children were sent to their relatives, and that he took older children with him.

'We Took the Children to Protect Them From the Attack.'

In the statement made by the Russian authorities regarding the allegations in question, it was claimed that the children were taken to Russia in order to be protected from attacks.

While the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the allegations that the children were forcibly detained, it was stated in the statement that the authorities were trying to reach the relatives of the children who lost their parents.