Ukraine's Ombudsman office says 21 Ukrainians have returned from Russian-occupied territory — 17 via the contact line, another four through Georgia and Moldova.
Twenty-one more Ukrainians have come home from Russian-occupied territory, Ukraine's Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, has announced. Seventeen were brought out through the work of the Ombudsman's Office, while another four made their own way to Ukraine via Georgia and Moldova. Volunteers Support Ukraine regularly reports on stories like this one, because behind each of them lies the quieter, day-to-day work of a great many people.
Among those who returned are three families from Kherson region who, before the occupation, were simply neighbors. Over the years of hardship they effectively became one large family — enduring shelling together, surviving prolonged power cuts, sharing food, and supporting whoever among them was struggling most. That mutual support, witnesses say, is what gave them the strength to hold on until they could leave.
A separate case involves a man, his father, and two young girls who reached Ukraine via Georgia and Moldova. The family had faced persecution after the girls' mother was detained for her pro-Ukrainian stance and sentenced to a lengthy prison term. According to Lubinets, the Ukrainian-founded international company MHP and its founder, Yuriy Kosyuk, played a role in their evacuation.
Every such return is first and foremost the story of specific people, not just a number in a report. Volunteers Support Ukraine follows news like this precisely because it's a reminder that behind years of war there are always real lives, and every family that makes it home is a small victory amid a hard, ongoing reality.
NGO Volunteers Support Ukraine continues helping people affected by the war in whatever way its available resources allow, and sees stories of return like this one as a reminder of exactly what that work is for.
