The SSU reported that it had declared suspicion against a Russian for the deportation of 15 orphans from Mykolaiv region

The Russian military was informed of the suspicion of deportation of children from the Mykolayiv region, photo: SSU

The law enforcement officers informed about the suspicion of a Russian who deported 15 Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation during the battles for Mykolaiv.

As reported by the Security Service of Ukraine, we are talking about the commander of the 205th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces — Jabrail Yusupov with the call sign «Gabriel».

According to the case file, in July 2022, under his command, 20 armed Russians broke into the premises of the then captured Novopetrivka special school and kidnapped 15 pupils.

The children, together with the director of the institution and her husband, were first taken to Crimea, and from there «under escort» of the Russians were sent to Anapa, in the Krasnodar region of the Russian Federation.

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There, the deportees were kept for almost a month in one of the local boarding houses. During their stay there, the children were forced to sing the Russian national anthem every morning, the SSU notes.

In November 2022, with the help of one of the charitable organizations, the deportees managed to be taken out of Russia to third countries, and then returned home.

On the basis of the collected evidence, Yusupov was informed in absentia of the suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war, committed by a group of persons based on a prior conspiracy).

Complex measures are currently underway to find him and punish him for crimes against Ukrainians.

Children who were deported by Russia from Mykolaiv Oblast

What about the children from the Novopetrivka boarding school?

As you know, during the occupation, 16 children were taken out of the Novopetrivka boarding school. All of them, as told in Mykolaiv RMA, later ended up in Georgia.

During the occupation of the village, the director of the institution Nataliia Lutsyk was able to take the children to Georgia.

In July 2023, Slidstvo.Info journalists identified the kidnappers of orphans who were taken to the Russian Federation during the occupation of the Sniguriv district from the Novopetrivka boarding school.

In March 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine collected evidence on two more citizens who were involved in the deportation of Mykolaiv children to Russia.

Last year, one of the pupils was taken from Georgia to the USA by her American foster mother, Bethany White, who adopted 16-year-old Yuliia. The process started back in 2020, but it was possible to complete all bureaucratic issues only on February 23, 2022. So, Yulia and 14 other children met the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the village of Novopetrivka. Now the girl is with her new family in the USA.

It should be noted that in addition to this, Jabrail Yusupov also participated in the kidnapping and torture of the civilian population.