Children were among 52 residents of Hrabovske taken to Russia – Zelensky

Children were among the 52 residents of the village of Grabovske in Sumy region who were recently taken to Russia. This was announced by the President of Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the event dedicated to the Diplomat's Day, video was published by News.LIVE.

According to the head of state, this village is located on the territory of Ukraine and partially on the territory of the Russian Federation. There were 52 Ukrainian civilians in Grabovske who refused to be evacuated.

When the Russian invaders entered the village, they captured 13 Ukrainian soldiers. The occupiers also took 52 villagers to Russia. Among them were about 17 men of military age, the rest were women and children, Zelensky said.

"I'm surprised that there were children there. That parents treat their children like that. These 52 people, they live there, they have lived there, they have not moved. And they have some kind of dialog or some kind of relationship with those who are on the territory of the Russian Federation. And people have been living like this for many years," the head of state said.

In his opinion, the residents of Hrabovske did not expect the Russian military to come in and take them prisoner.

The president also explained that Ukrainian defenders had the opportunity to destroy the Russians with drones and artillery, but did not do so because there were civilians there.

"They didn't want to kill just civilians. Either not kill them or someone would be wounded. That's what happened," the president summarized.

• On December 20, the head of the village of Grabovske in Sumy region reported that about 50 residents took out to the Russian Federation. Earlier, civilians signed refusals to be evacuated.
• IN THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE confirmed incident. According to them, the Defense Forces withdrew from several positions in the area of Hrabovske.
• Sibiga compared Russia with Hamas terrorists after the deportation of the inhabitants of the border village.