Guardians who refuse to evacuate children from Sloviansk to lose custody

The Kyiv Independent news desk
·2 min read

Guardians of children who have not yet evacuated from Sloviansk, located in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk Oblast and the site of constant Russian assaults, will lose custody and children will be forcibly evacuated, according to a decision by the city's commission for the protection of children's rights.

Ukraine began mandatory evacuation from the region in early August 2022 following a decision by Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers. Despite mandatory evacuation and numerous calls from the government to leave with children, more than 30 orphans are still in Sloviansk with guardians, the Sloviansk military-civilian administration wrote on Facebook.

According to the administration, caretakers were again informed of the need to evacuate children to safer regions of Ukraine, including Cherkasy and Lviv oblasts, during meetings of the commission for the protection of children's rights that took place in Sloviansk on March 30 and 31.

Guardians were reminded that evacuation is free of charge and that if they refuse to evacuate children, their will lose custody and the children will be forcibly evacuated, the administration said.

"We constantly we appeal to the families, explain that evacuation is free, and provide assistance. In December, we held a commission meeting and appealed to the families, gave them a month or two, and reminded them constantly," Olena Sokolova, head of child services in Sloviansk, told Suspilne news.

On March 27, a minor was wounded during shelling in Sloviansk. That's why we we are again taking measures in a stricter form," Sokolova added.

Russian troops struck Donetsk Oblast's city of Sloviansk on the morning of March 27, killing at least two people and wounding 29. Two Russian S-300 missiles hit the city center, damaging administrative and office buildings, five high-rises, and seven houses.

An orphanage was "almost completely" destroyed, although without casualties, in the town of  Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast, located south of Sloviansk.

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