{"id":309,"date":"2025-12-23T04:46:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T04:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/?p=309"},"modified":"2025-12-23T04:46:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T04:46:53","slug":"russian-troops-kidnap-50-civilians-in-medieval-border-raid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/?p=309","title":{"rendered":"Russian troops \u2018kidnap 50 civilians in medieval border raid\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TOPSHOT<\/p>\n

Russian troops have been accused of abducting Ukrainian civilians in a flash cross-border incursion into the Sumy region (Picture: Tatyana Makeyeva\/AFP via Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Russian forces\u00a0are said to have\u00a0abducted\u00a050\u00a0Ukrainian civilians from a border village in a\u00a0\u2018barbaric\u2019\u00a0raid\u00a0likened to\u00a0mass terrorist kidnappings.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Putin\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0troops allegedly crossed into the\u00a0northern Sumy region<\/a>\u00a0last Thursday\u00a0before\u00a0\u2018kidnapping\u2019\u00a0the group\u00a0of mainly elderly women.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0civilians\u00a0were\u00a0then\u00a0taken across the border\u00a0into\u00a0Russia<\/a>\u00a0on Saturday, according to\u00a0Dmytro\u00a0Lubinets,\u00a0Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s human rights commissioner.<\/p>\n

The group, including an 89-year-old woman, are apparently being held without contact and with their present whereabouts unknown.<\/p>\n

Russian troops\u00a0<\/a>removed\u00a0the\u00a0residents instead\u00a0of\u00a0attempting\u00a0to hold territory\u00a0during a brief incursion into\u00a0Hrabovske, about\u00a0200\u00a0metres\u00a0from the border, the Sumy\u00a0regional administration said.<\/p>\n

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Sign up for all of the latest stories<\/h2>\n
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Start your day informed with Metro’s\u00a0News Updates<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0newsletter or get\u00a0Breaking News<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>alerts the moment it happens.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Yuriy Boyechko, chief executive of\u00a0the\u00a0Hope\u00a0For\u00a0Ukraine<\/a>\u00a0charity<\/a>, told\u00a0Metro:\u00a0<\/strong>\u2018The kidnapping of civilians by Russian forces is a barbaric act of cowardice that we condemn in the strongest terms.<\/p>\n

\u2018Working on the frontlines of the Sumy region, we\u00a0witness\u00a0daily the immense danger civilians endure.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/div>
A rescuer works at the site where a store was hit by a Russian air strike in the Sumy region (Picture: State Emergency Service of Ukraine via Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018This tragedy also underscores a devastating humanitarian reality: many of the 50 abducted individuals stayed behind despite evacuation efforts because they felt they had nowhere else to go and no means to survive elsewhere. Russia must be held accountable in international courts for these blatant crimes against humanity.\u2019<\/p>\n

Viktor Trehubov, national forces communications chief, said that the group was \u2018herded\u2019 into a local church before being \u2018dragged\u2019 into Russia.<\/p>\n

Speaking on national television, Mr Trehubov added that most of the village\u2019s residents had been evacuated deeper into Ukraine but some, mostly elderly people, had chosen to remain.<\/p>\n

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\"SUMY,<\/div>
A street in Sumy during a power cut on December 9, 2025, as the city faces near-daily power outages (Picture: Maksym Kishka\/Frontliner\/Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Andrii\u00a0Sybiha,\u00a0Ukraine\u2019s\u00a0foreign minister, dubbed the raid \u2018medieval\u2019 and likened it to\u00a0Boko Haram or ISIS\u2019s\u00a0mass kidnappings\u00a0of civilians.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

On X,\u00a0Mr Sybiha\u00a0wrote: \u2018Russian invaders have stolen five dozen civilian people, mostly elderly women, from a tiny Ukrainian village\u00a0Hrabovske\u00a0right\u00a0across the state border in the Sumy region.<\/p>\n

\u2018With such medieval raids, Putin\u2019s Russia shows it is no different from terrorist groups like ISIS, Boko Haram, or\u00a0Hamas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018We demand our civilian hostages to be returned home.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mr\u00a0Sybiha\u00a0also referenced the \u2018thousands\u2019\u00a0of other Ukrainian civilians who have been forcibly deported to Russia, including children.<\/p>\n

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\"Russian<\/div>
Russian troops are accused of wide-ranging war crimes during the unprovoked and illegal all-out attack on Ukraine (Picture: Library image, Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As of\u00a0September\u00a0this year, more than\u00a019,500 children\u00a0had been forcibly taken by Moscow\u00a0since the start of the all-out\u00a0invasion almost four years ago,\u00a0according to the British\u00a0government<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Putin himself\u00a0is wanted for the alleged trafficking\u00a0<\/a>of children after a warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u2018We urge all states and international organisations to join us in demanding the release of innocent civilian people stolen from their homes,\u2019 Mr Sybiha said.<\/p>\n

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\"Firefighters<\/div>
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone strike in Ukraine\u2019s Sumy region (Picture: State Emergency Service of Ukraine via Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018This\u00a0particular\u00a0war\u00a0crime<\/a>\u00a0is already being prosecuted in Ukraine and should receive\u00a0an appropriate response\u00a0at the international level as well.<\/p>\n

\u2018It also underscores the permanent threat of living next to Russia.<\/p>\n

\u2018That is why Ukraine needs a real, lasting peace.<\/p>\n

\u2018Living next to terrorists requires strength and robust security guarantees.\u2019<\/p>\n

On Telegram, Mr\u00a0Lubinets\u00a0said that he had sent a letter about the \u2018illegally deported Ukrainian citizens\u2019 to the International Committee of the Red Cross\u00a0and\u00a0had\u00a0contacted his Russian counterpart for information on the residents\u2019 conditions and needs.<\/p>\n

A \u2018vast network\u2019 of detention facilities and convoys\u00a0since the start of the full-scale invasion\u00a0has been detailed in reports by the\u00a0UN, multiple human rights\u00a0agencies\u00a0and the US-based Conflict Observatory.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russian troops have been accused of abducting Ukrainian civilians in a flash cross-border incursion into the Sumy region<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":311,"href":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309\/revisions\/311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luxuury.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}