Director of a children's camp in Crimea refuses to return a child to Kherson because of his pro-Ukrainian views

This was reported by The Guardian.

The director of a children's camp in Crimea said that he would not let the 14-year-old boy go home to Kherson, explaining that the city was "occupied" by Ukraine and that the teenager and his mother had expressed pro-Ukrainian views.

The schoolboy reportedly left for the camp on 4 October on a free voucher.

The child's return home was postponed several times. At first the camp explained this with security concerns, later the management started claiming that Kherson was "occupied" by Ukraine. The camp director also explained the decision with the fact that the boy's Telegram avatar showed the Ukrainian emblem and his mother said she wanted her son to return to Ukraine, which meant she did not perceive Kherson as part of Russia.

I don't know who will deal with you now, but you're not going back to Kherson, that's 100%... You can thank your mother for that," a camp staff member said in one of the messages.

This case is not an isolated one. Hundreds of Ukrainian children reportedly remain in camps in Crimea. The management tells parents that they can take their children if they come in person, but many cannot afford to travel to Russia via Poland and the Baltic states.

Parents who cannot return their children suggest the situation: the Russian Federation wants to use the children to exchange for Russian prisoners of war; Moscow plans to keep the children in the Russian Federation.

According to Ukrainian presidential ombudsman for children's rights Darya Herasymchuk, Russia has removed 13,000 Ukrainian children.