Ukrainian orphan escapes Russia, but remains in limbo
Newsy
A Ukrainian teenager named Denys escaped this year from Russia. But since then, he hasn't been able to leave Poland.
For two years, a teenager named Denys has been a focal point of our reporting on Russia’s forced deportation of Ukrainian orphans.
Our Scripps News Investigates special report in December sparked a new sense of urgency to rescue Denys. He managed to escape into Poland in early February. We were there for his first interview — during what was supposed to be a one-night stopover in Warsaw.
His journey was supposed to take him to a new life with relatives in Germany. But there was a problem.
“I didn't have a foreign passport and they took me off the bus,” Denys says. “I was taken to a police station. They filed a criminal case against me on charges of illegal border crossing, and then I was deported to the Polish border.”
