We must bring back Ukrainian children, detained civilians and prisoners of war

Kazakhstan has released Ukrainian woman Liubov Rozhanska, who was detained in the country at Russia’s request while attempting to bring her grandson back to Ukraine. Rozhanska was held from October 1 to October 4, according to her lawyer Alexei Pryanishnikov. The incident occurred after Rozhanska traveled to Astana to collect her 8-year-old grandson, who is on Ukraine’s list of children unlawfully held in Russia.

The boy was never returned to Kazakhstan, but instead, a staged video was created by the Russians to make it appear that he was heading to Kazakhstan. Pryanishnikov believes this to be an FSB operation. Prior to this, the boy had been taken to Russia by his mother in 2021, following her marriage to a Russian citizen. Both the boy and his mother received Russian citizenship in 2022, and the father obtained a court ruling in Ukraine granting him custody.

However, in 2023, the boy was supposed to be returned to Ukraine, but the plan was thwarted. Rozhanska and two other Ukrainian citizens were detained and accused of attempting to abduct the child, leading to espionage charges against them. Kazakhstan detained the grandmother based on a Russian court's ruling that she was the organizer of the "abduction," a claim Pryanishnikov finds peculiar.