Roman Abramovich is behind the happy ending story of a Ukrainian child who is deported to Russia. The grandmother was desperately looking for him and thanks to the help of the Russian oligarch, who was very close to President Vladimir Putin, she managed to find him. A Financial Times story collecting intelligence between Kyiv, Warsaw and Riga.
Ilya, 10, forcibly taken to Russia
10-year-old Ilya, who lost his mother, was forcibly taken to Russian territory. The grandmother, Elena Matvienko, a 63-year-old Ukrainian citizen, has moved seas and mountains to bring her grandson home. Until the former owner of Chelsea Football Club helped her: “He was very close to us,” said the woman, looking at Abramovich. At the end of this odyssey, Elena went to Russia to retrieve the child kidnapped by soldiers from Moscow, thanks to the determined intervention of the billionaire Kremlin friend.
The Odyssey of Ilya’s Grandmother
Lying on a bed with his leg in a cast, 10-year-old Ilya from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was answering questions from a local TV reporter. In the clip, the boy told how his mother died in an air raid. The news led Matvienko on an odyssey from Ukraine to Moscow – “into the wolf’s mouth,” as he said in a phone call – and then to Donetsk. The trip was coordinated by Ukrainian and Russian officials, as well as Roman Abramovich. The Financial Times chronicled the journeys of two families who rescued orphans during the fighting in Mariupol and then transferred them to hospitals in Russian-controlled territory. Matvienko reunited with Ilya this week, while Kira Obedinskaya, 12, is also back with her family.
The presence of Abramovich
Matvienko’s journey to Donetsk to rescue his grandson was arduous. “Many vehicles had to be deployed because it was recommended that Ilya be left behind,” he told the Financial Times. Returning via Moscow, they stopped at an Abramovich estate, which “helped us a lot,” he said, as did the Ukrainian and Russian teams. A person who knew about Abramovich’s involvement admitted how the oligarch met Matvienko in Kyiv and agreed to help her find her grandson. A spokesman for Abramovich did not respond to a request for comment about his involvement in evacuations.
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