The offensive of Vladimir Putin’s troops in Ukraine continues inexorably. The testimonies of executed civilians, raped women and killed children are piling up, but fortunately there are also stories with happy endings. One of them, reported by the Financial Times, concerns a 10-year-old boy who was kidnapped by Kremlin soldiers and taken to safety by his grandmother with her help Roman Abramovich.
Wounded in an air raid a Mariupol, Ilya had been taken across enemy lines to a hospital in the separatist-run city of Donetsk. The grandmother, Elena Matvienko, became aware of the situation through a video posted on social networks: the 10-year-old grandson was actually caught on a local TV news program. Fear and desperation for the 63-year-old, who is determined to risk her life to bring the little one home.
A dangerous, arduous journey made possible also thanks to the intervention of Roman Abramovich. Among the internationally best-known Russian oligarchs and a protagonist in the peace talks with Ukraine, the former Chelsea patron was instrumental in the operation’s success. “He helped us a lot, he was close to us,” confirms Elena to FT.
After losing her mother in a Russian attack, Ilya was able to return home and is now being treated in a hospital in Kyiv. The hospital was visited by the President this week Volodymyr Zelenskyy who, after shaking hands and handing over a gift, asked him for information about his state of health. “I’m fine,” the little boy replies with a smile on his face.
A story with a happy ending, then, but the drama in Ukraine isn’t destined to end in the mail. The umpteenth confirmation comes from the numbers: according to the data of United NationsSince the outbreak of the war, around 12.6 million Ukrainians have been uprooted, expelled or forced to flee to other countries.