Russian-Installed Kherson Governor and Two School Staff Face Suspicion Over Transfer of Three Children to Crimea

Ukrainian prosecutors have named three people as suspects in the unlawful transfer of three children from Kherson Oblast to Crimea. They are Volodymyr Saldo, the Russian-installed "governor of Kherson Oblast", and two staff members of the Kherson Professional Shipbuilding Lyceum. The information comes from the Office of the Prosecutor General and from Bring Kids Back UA, a Ukrainian government-led effort to return Ukrainian children from temporarily Russian-occupied territories.

According to investigators, the case goes back to October 2022. Saldo is said to have ordered the occupation administration's so-called "Ministry of Education" to organise the movement of children from Kherson Oblast to Crimea, describing it as "recuperation". The "ministry" then issued an order for school holidays, and heads of educational institutions were told to arrange such "recuperation" for their pupils.

On 7 October 2022, three minors from the Kherson Professional Shipbuilding Lyceum were taken to Crimea. Prosecutors say the school's director prepared the documents, while a vocational training instructor travelled with the children. Their parents had not agreed to the trip.

The teenagers were first placed at the Druzhba children's camp in Yevpatoriia and were later moved to a second camp. When the "holidays" ended, they were not sent home. In January 2023, they were instead enrolled at the Kerch Maritime Technical College, again without their parents' consent.

The Prosecutor's Office said the teenagers were drawn into military-patriotic activities, exposed to Russian propaganda and had a Russian identity imposed on them.

One of the three had a severe form of diabetes. He was admitted to intensive care in Yevpatoriia because of a shortage of insulin and spent about three weeks in hospital.

All three young people have since been brought back to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Saldo, the lyceum's deputy director and its vocational training instructor have each been served with a notice of suspicion of violating the laws and customs of war, committed by a group of people acting in prior collusion. The charges fall under Articles 28.2 and 438.1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and the maximum penalty is 12 years in prison.

The announcement follows the recent return of five other children and young people from temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.