19h ago

Ukrainian captured by Russians in 2016 at age of 17 freed after eight years in Russian captivity

www.pravda.com.ua

Civilian Bohdan Kovalchuk has been brought back to Ukraine as a result of another prisoner exchange with Russia. He had been held in captivity since 2016, when Russian forces detained him at the age of 17.

5 comments

owner of one of the top Ukrainian banks just posted that Monobank will pay for this boy's university in any Ukrainian university he chooses. via https://t.me/OGoMono/2202
2016.....2025......8 years.
Am I stupid, or isn't that 9 years?
- They probably rounded down, because he wasn't captured 9 years ago but 8 and 6 months or something like that. And if you round up, suddenly you're just spreading propaganda and telling lies/exaggerating reality.
- Not until the anniversary in 2025
Some of the teenagers were later pardoned, reportedly on the condition that they refuse prisoner exchange and remain in the DPR. Bohdan declined the pardon and served his sentence in Toretsk Penal Colony No. 28.
Tetiana Hots said her grandson never complained, telling her: "I can endure everything; don’t worry".
Apparently he hasn't forgotten his home and (national) identity. That's good to hear. But most kids are abducted at a much younger age, when a sense of self and/or belonging isn't fully formed yet. The damage is horrendous to both themselves and their families. It's part of the definition of genocide.