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Woman and her grandson forced to move to Russia for permanent residence receive citizenship and housing with help of Investigative Committee, relevant authorities and representatives of business

The Investigative Committee of Russia keeps securing the rights and interests of children affected by military activities and humanitarian disasters under special control. The Committee does its utmost to provide them with necessary medical care, quality education and opportunities to acquire housing.

It must be noted that, under instruction of Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin, officers of the Investigative Committee regularly solve such problems during investigations and pre-investigative probes.

The Committee receives information about violations of the rights and legal interests of citizens from various sources: written appeals to the Investigative Committee; complaints during personal reception sessions of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia; messages through online reception of the Committee; and mass media reports. In September, 2018, one mass media source shared a story of Ludmila Sukhonosova who in 2014 came to Russia from South-East Ukraine with her orphaned grandson, 11-year-old Artyom. At first, the woman and the boy resided in a refugee camp in Simferopol, afterwards they moved to a city in Yakutia named Neryungri where they were settled in an old barrack. The family did not have any documents except for refugee ID cards, therefore they were unable to receive social allowances and pension. In 2015, the family obtained a Russian Federation temporary residence permit, and they received a residence permit in 2016. However, the process of obtaining the Russian citizenship has been unreasonably delayed for them. Moreover, the barrack caught fire and became uninhabitable. The woman contacted a whole number of authorities, including federal ones, in charge of responding to such applications. However, despite multiple complaints of the woman, the situation was not changing.

The direction of the Investigative Committee of Russia found out about this situation through media monitoring, and Alexander Bastrykin instructed his senior assistant Igor Krasnov to take all necessary measures to secure the rights and legal interests of the woman and her grandchild.

Chief of Sakha (Yakutia) Regional Investigations Directorate Alexander Zabolichenko met the pensioner in person. The Sakha (Yakutia) Regional Investigations Directorate carried out a pre-investigative probe into violation of the rights of a child from the category of orphaned and left without parental care children. Solutions of the problems of the woman and her grandson have been swiftly found during the probe. On September 20, 2018, the woman and her grandson obtained the Russian citizenship with the assistance of Chief of the Main Directorate for Migration Issues of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation Olga Kirillova. After that, the woman was finally able to receive the social allowances provided by law.

Furthermore, the Investigative Committee of Russia, the Children’s Rights Commissioner for the Russian President, and a group of entrepreneurs managed to solve the problem of purchasing of housing for the family. They were given a flat in Yaroslavl Region. Today the woman and her grandson arrived to Moscow. They met with senior assistant of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia Igor Komissarov and Children’s Rights Commissioner for the Russian President Anna Kuznetsova in the Public Chamber. After that, the Investigative Committee took part in organization of their moving to Yaroslavl Region. Thus, due to the well-coordinated actions of state authorities, representatives of business and members of the public, it became possible to solve all issues of the woman and her grandson.

The Investigative Committee of Russia expresses its gratitude to administration of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and Yaroslavl Region; Children’s Rights Commissioner for the Russian President Anna Kuznetsova; Chief of the Main Directorate for Migration Issues of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation Olga Kirillova; managers of Rosneft and Sportmaster; mass media representatives; and all concerned citizens for the contribution they made to solving the difficult situation of the woman and her grandson who were forced to abandon their home due to military activities in the South-East Ukraine.

The Investigative Committee of Russia continues its work of securing the rights and interests of children. The motto of the Committee is “No child is somebody else’s.”