177. Forced separation of child from parent
Mariupol (Donetsk)
LOCATION: Mariupol (Donetsk)
DATE: March 24-April 12, 2022
NUMBER OF WITNESSES: 2
SUMMARY: On March 24, 2022, the Victim, a young boy, sustained an eye injury when struck by shrapnel from a nearby explosion. When the shelling ended, the Victim and his mother sought help from Ukrainian forces and were taken to a military hospital. After recovering there for around two weeks, they were both taken captive by Russian forces when the hospital was overrun. The Witness and his mother were taken to the village of Bezimenne and separated; the Witness’s mother was allegedly taken for filtration and interrogation and the son was brought first to a hospital in Novoazovsk and then to one in Donetsk by two individuals from the “Novoazovsk Service for Children’s Service of Novoazovsk.” While at the second hospital, the Victim overheard conversations about transferring him to an orphanage, but doctors helped him contact his grandmother, who then came for him in late June to leave Donetsk.
WITNESSES
The Witnesses included a young boy and his grandmother who were both civilians.
VICTIMS
The Victim of the incident was the young boy mentioned above.
ALLEGED PERPETRATORS
as described by the Witness(es)
The perpetrators included a man and a woman from “Novoazovsk Service for Children,” and the head of the children’s service for the internationally unrecognized “Donetsk People’s Republic.”