A teenager from Druzhkivka asked to be evacuated on his own, despite his parents' refusal

A teenage boy from Druzhkivka, a town near the front lines in Donetsk Oblast, appealed to Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada’s Human Rights Commissioner, asking for help with evacuation, as his parents refused to leave the dangerous area. 

Following the intervention of the Ombudsman’s office, the teenager was initially evacuated, and his mother later joined him. The family was evacuated to Cherkasy, where they were provided with an escort and the necessary assistance.

The Ombudsman stated that regional military administrations and local government bodies had failed to fulfill their duty to make timely decisions regarding evacuation and to assess the risks to children. Dmytro Lubinets emphasized that the inaction of state agencies leads to the deaths of children, their deportation, or forced displacement carried out by the Russian Federation, and urged parents not to expose minors to danger.

Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported this in a Telegram post.

About 4,000 civilians remain in the city of Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region, despite daily Russian shelling and a complete lack of public utilities—the city has no electricity, water, or gas. 

As a reminder, in the Kharkiv region, authorities plan to implement a mandatory evacuation of children from a number of settlements due to the deteriorating security situation. Local residents are advised not to delay and to leave immediately.

At the request of the military command, the Chernihiv Regional Defense Council has approved a decision to implement a mandatory evacuation of the population from twelve border villages starting July 1. This was reported by Vyacheslav Chaus, head of the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration.