[1/5] Bohdan Yermokhin, a Ukrainian teenager who was taken to Russia from the occupied city of Mariupol, shakes hands after arriving in Ukraine from Belarus at the border crossing in Kortelisy, amid Russia’s ongoing attack on Ukraine, November 19, 2023.
REUTERS/Thomas Peter Acquire Licensing RightsKORTELISY, Ukraine, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian teenager who was taken to Russia from the occupied city of Mariupol during the war and prevented from leaving the country earlier this year returned to Ukraine on Sunday.
In March, he tried to leave Russia for Ukraine via Belarus, but was stopped and sent back.
"I believed I would be in Ukraine, but not on this day," Yermokhin told Reuters while eating at a petrol station after crossing into Ukraine.
Asked if he was glad to be back in Ukraine, Yermokhin said "yes."
Persons:
Bohdan Yermokhin, Thomas Peter Acquire, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Yermokhin, Zelenskiy, Yermokhin's, Bohdan, he's, Andriy Yermak, Mariam Lambert, Kateryna Bobrovska, Russia's, Maria Lvova, Belova, Vladimir Putin, Pavel Polityuk, Tom Balmforth, Jane Merriman, Ron Popeski, Bill Berkrot, Chris Reese
Organizations:
REUTERS, Sunday, Children's Fund, UNICEF, Russia, FOSTER CARE, Foundation, Reuters, Criminal Court, ICC, Kremlin, Thomson
Locations:
Ukrainian, Russia, Mariupol, Ukraine, Belarus, Kortelisy, Qatar, MOSCOW, Moscow, Dutch, Minsk, Belarusian, The Hague