The story of Illya, a 9-year-old Ukrainian boy saved from forced deportation to Russia, was featured on CNN broadcast.Illya was severely injured by a Russian shell that struck his neighborhood.
His mother died the following day, and he was taken to a hospital in occupied Donetsk. There, Russian authorities attempted to adopt him into a Russian family. “I was very worried when they told me I could be sent to Moscow,” Illya said in the broadcast.
Thanks to the determination of his grandmother, who traced him through a Russian propaganda video circulating online, and the initiative of the President of Ukraine Bring Kids Back UA, Illya was eventually rescued and brought back to Ukraine.
The CNN broadcast also featured voices from civil society leaders and U.S.-based humanitarians who underlined the scale and systematic nature of Russia’s crimes.