Russian volunteers risking their safety to return kidnapped children to Ukraine

LTC Eugene Chu
"Before his country invaded Ukraine, Russian priest Grigory Mikhnov-Vaitenko volunteered in jails with Ukrainian political prisoners accused of pro-Ukrainian activism. Today his work focuses on a different kind of alleged detainee: Ukrainian children.

“It is not just Ukrainians trying to reunite children with their families,” the Apostolic Orthodox Church cleric from St Petersburg told i. “There are volunteers all around Russia – thousands working with Ukrainian refugees including children.”

In recent weeks the Ukrainian government highlighted the plight of at least 16,226 children it accuses the Kremlin of deporting. Ukrainian officials have verified these cases, but believes the real figure could be as high as 150,000. However, Russian Federation sources cited by Ukraine’s National Information Bureau claim the total is as many as 738,000. Only 308 have returned."...