Orphaned Ukrainian teen taken to Russia returns home to Ukraine on 19 November – his 18th birthday

Bohdan Yermokhin – whose name was spelled “Bogdan Ermokhin” on the Russian civil registry – is one of thousands of Ukrainian children who disappeared into Russia from orphanages, schools and foster homes, most of whom are still being sought by Kyiv.

He was part of a group dubbed the “Mariupol 31” who were transferred from an orphanage in the city captured by the Russian army to the Polyani center in the Moscow region, under the direct supervision of the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. She herself adopted one of the group, Filip Golovnya.

The rescue of the Ukrainian boy beset with so many setbacks that few expected a happy outcome. Even his lawyer Kateryna Bobrovskaya’s faith faltered, but she never gave up.