The head of the A Just Russia party, 70-year-old Sergei Mironov, and his wife, 55-year-old Inna Varlamova, “adopted” a girl kidnapped from Ukraine.
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At the end of August 2022, Inna Varlamova and Mironov’s deputy in the State Duma, Yana Lantratova, visited an orphanage in the occupied Kherson region. They left Kherson with two pupils from the city orphanage – 10-month-old Margarita Prokopenko and two-year-old Ilya Vashchenko.
Last December, Mironov and his wife adopted Margarita, changing her name to Marina Mironova. According to media reports, the girl’s biological mother was deprived of parental rights, and her father died, but there are other relatives. Lawyers classify such an act as a war crime.
Nothing is known about the fate of Ilya Vashchenko after he was brought to Russia. RosSMI notes that in September 2023 he received a new birth certificate.
At the end of August 2022, Inna Varlamova arrived in the Kherson region together with Mironov’s first deputy in the State Duma, Yana Lantratova. They didn’t leave alone.
Local occupation authorities issued an order for them to remove two children – 10-month-old Margarita Prokopenko and two-year-old Ilya Vashchenko, the Hromadske publication reported. Before the start of a full-scale war, these children lived in the Kherson orphanage.
During Varlamova and Lantratova’s visit, Margarita was being treated for bronchitis at the Kherson Regional Children’s Hospital, Natalya Lyutikova, head of the hospital’s pediatric department, told reporters from the documentary film studio Top Hat/Hayloft Productions. According to her, Mironov’s wife did not come to the hospital herself, but with Tatyana Zavalskaya, who after the occupation of Kherson was appointed head of the local orphanage.
Lyutikova said that Varlamova was introduced to her as “the head of children’s affairs from Moscow.” The women examined the children and were satisfied with the condition and living conditions. After this, Zavalskaya began making daily phone calls and demanding that the children be discharged, says Lyutikova.
When I asked why I should discharge sick children, Zavalskaya said that that woman had chosen them and would take them to Moscow, everything was ready and there were tickets,” said the hospital employee. Doctors managed to postpone discharge for only a week.
The day after discharge, Margarita and Ilya were taken from the orphanage. Officially, the children were taken to Moscow for examination, determination of further treatment tactics and rehabilitation. There were just over two months left before the city was liberated by the Ukrainian army.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.