A Ukrainian teenager is manipulated and transported to Russia by a family friend. ‘She was obsessed with money,’ the young woman told the Observer.

Tricked by the pro-Russian mother of a friend in Russia, Alina Kovalyova, a 15-year-old Ukrainian teenager, joins the list of thousands of children taken from Ukraine in exchange for financial benefits.

according to data to Ministry of Reintegration of UkraineSince the beginning of the invasion, more than 19,000 children have been deported to Russia. Of these, approximately 13,000 w 370 returned home Alina was one of them.

There are at least 19,400 cases of Ukrainian minors deported to Russia

At the age of fifteen, the young woman was living with her family in the Russian-occupied Kherson region of southern Ukraine, with Yevgenia, her best friend’s pro-Russian mother. Ir Lies and manipulationthe woman managed to get Alina to agree when she suggested they flee to Russia for safety.

This woman lied to Alina.Svetlana Popova, the young woman’s mother, told the newspaper Watchman. She said to him: Since you spoke with the Russian soldiers during the occupation and brought food and water after the liberation, Ukrainian soldiers will torture and kill you. We have to flee because we are in danger,” he explained.

Despite Svetlana’s attempts to make her daughter realize it was a lie, Alina did not believe it, and in October 2022, her birth certificate and She ran away with the pro-Russian woman.

With Alina in her care, Yvgenia saw it as a way to earn money and a better apartment in Russia. The country has a registry of Russian families suitable for receiving Ukrainian children. For each person who obtains citizenship, families receive a good amount of money – up to €1,000 (about €932) if they are disabled children, according to News agency.

The constant struggle of parents crossing half the world for their children “trapped” in Russia

1,500km away from home, Alina spent half a year in Mordovia before her mother followed her on social media. When Svetlana called her, she realized that her daughter was being treated badly.

“I was so scared,” said the young woman. Watchman. “Yvgenia was very friendly when I was in Ukraine, but she cheated on me. When she found out I was talking to my mother She got upset and hit me. it was Obsessed with money And with what I was able to gain from the authorities by taking care of me,” he said.

With the help of the NGO Save Ukraine, Savetlana to Russia where, through social services, she made an official declaration that the young woman was her daughter. If she arrives after four days, that will be enough time for Evgenia to finalize the adoption process and obtain a Russian ID card from Alina. “At that point, she would be Russian and there was nothing they could do,” the young woman’s mother explained.

Alina Kovaleva’s story highlights the horrific treatment of Ukrainian children at the hands of the Russians. A family friend turned collaborator used manipulation to convince the girl to flee home, taking her birth certificate. She took custody of the girl pic.twitter.com/K09ru5HXOS

– MykolaKuleba (@MykolaKuleba) May 15, 2023

According to Mykola Kuleba, CEO of Save Ukraine, like Alina, many Ukrainian children have been kidnapped and taken to Russia for money.

“A boy we rescued from a Russian school said he was with another boy from Mariupol who was placed in a very poor family of alcoholics. He was ignored and starved every day. To me, that suggests they were adopted. Earn money to buy alcoholHe said, quoted in The Guardian.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the NGO has carried out six missions to Russia to help families of deported Ukrainian children find and return them to their country.