A Ukrainian teenager who was forcibly taken to Moscow from the occupied city of Mariupol and subsequently summoned to a military enlistment office will be returning to his home country, according to Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.

Seventeen-year-old Bohdan Ermokhin was part of a group of several dozen children relocated from the Donetsk region by the Russian military and placed with foster families in Russia. Recent media reports highlighted that the teenager, who now holds Russian citizenship, had received an order to appear at a military enlistment office in December after he turns 18, the minimum age required for military service in Russia.

Lubinets confirmed the news, stating, "I can officially confirm that we have made arrangements for Bohdan's return to Ukraine and his reunion with his sister." He shared this update on the messaging app Telegram. Although the specific timeline was not provided, Ermokhin is expected to return to Ukraine "soon."

A letter, said to have been signed by Ermokhin and addressed to the authorities in the Moscow region where he currently resides, stated his refusal to accept a state-provided apartment due to his planned departure to Ukraine. Ermokhin's lawyer, Yekaterina Bobrovskaya, posted a video on Facebook on Thursday in which her client personally appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for assistance in returning to Ukraine.

Ermokhin's sister, Valeriya, became his legally registered Ukrainian guardian following the death of their parents. Since being relocated to Russia, he has been living with a Russian guardian near Moscow. It is worth noting that Ermokhin previously attempted to flee Russia in March but was apprehended by law enforcement at the Belarusian border.

In July, Russian children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova revealed that over 700,000 Ukrainian children had been "received" by Russia since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, with the majority arriving without parents or relatives. It is important to mention that the International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the country's human rights commissioner, in March. The warrant was issued for their alleged involvement in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.

Russia has argued that the relocation of over 700,000 Ukrainian children was done to ensure their safety in the areas affected by the conflict. However, these claims have been met with controversy and condemnation from the international community.

In the case of Bohdan Ermokhin, his return to Ukraine marks a small victory in the ongoing crisis surrounding the treatment and displacement of Ukrainian children. It remains to be seen how his reunion with his sister and the broader issue of the displaced Ukrainian children will progress in the future.