Injuries to children in Novoosynovo, Kupyan region: the prosecutor’s office is investigating the circumstances of the parents’ malicious failure to fulfill their duties
The general safety of children in the frontline areas of the Kharkiv region remains one of the key tasks of local administrations and law enforcement agencies, as shelling and airstrikes pose a direct threat to the lives of civilians. In wartime, when families find themselves in high-risk zones, compliance with evacuation measures and control over the stay of children becomes especially important, and any violation of these procedures can lead to serious consequences. It was in such conditions that the incident occurred in the village of Novoosinove, Kupyansky district, which attracted the attention of law enforcement officers and the media.
What the Kup’yansk District Prosecutor’s Office reported
March 3, the Kup’yansk District Prosecutor’s Office notified that it has launched a pre-trial investigation into the injuries of children in the front-line village of Novoosinove, which occurred on February 22 as a result of an air strike. The investigation is being conducted into the fact of malicious failure to fulfill child care duties, and law enforcement officers are checking the circumstances of the family’s stay in the high-risk zone and the circumstances that led to the injuries.
According to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, an air strike on a residential area of the village of Novoosinove resulted in the death of a 30-year-old man. His wife and 13-year-old daughter were seriously injured, and a seven-year-old girl suffered an acute stress reaction. The incident occurred in the territory covered by the order of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration on the forced evacuation of children with their parents, issued on November 3, 2023.
It is reported that the family had previously left Novoosynovo in 2023–2024 during the forced evacuation, but then returned because the husband, who remained in the village, evaded mobilization. Because of this, the family was hiding in the frontline zone, exposed to increased danger in conditions of regular shelling and FPV drone attacks by the Russian armed forces.
The Kupyansk District Prosecutor’s Office has launched a pre-trial investigation under the article that provides for liability for malicious failure to fulfill parental duties to care for a child. The investigation should establish why the family was in a high-risk area, how the forced evacuation was controlled, and whether administrative regulations on child protection were complied with.
The prosecutor’s office’s press service noted that all available media publications are being checked to get a complete picture of the event. Law enforcement officers are evaluating both the actions of the family members and the compliance with procedural norms by the authorities responsible for the evacuation and ensuring the safety of the children.
Medical condition of the victims
The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleg Synegubov, reported that a 33-year-old woman and a 13-year-old girl were seriously injured, while the seven-year-old daughter is in satisfactory condition. During the evacuation of the family, significant difficulties were created by shelling and attacks by enemy drones, which prevented the safe movement of children from the front-line village.
Previously, Sinegubov said:
“We searched for this family for almost a year. At first they were in one settlement, then they moved to Kupyansk, then from Kupyansk they moved again to another settlement. Today we worked all night with our military to work out the issues of possible evacuation, providing medical assistance to these people.
There is no way to physically evacuate them, because there are crossings there, Oskil: the thaw has already begun, so this logistics cannot be provided. However, first of all, there are enemy FPV drones that are hitting the local population. Yesterday, a meeting was held with community leaders, and one of the community leaders says that people have finally, on the fourth anniversary of the war, volunteered to evacuate.”
At the same time, materials appeared in the media that cover the chronology of events and the conditions of the family’s stay in detail. Law enforcement officers are checking these reports to establish the reliability of the information and assess the full range of consequences of the incident.
Thus, the tragedy in Novoosynovo was the result of a combination of direct shelling and the family’s stay in an area that was supposed to be under the control of forced evacuation measures. The prosecutor’s office’s pre-trial investigation should determine the extent to which the administration’s instructions were followed and what measures could have prevented the children from being injured.
New law on forced evacuation
On March 2, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed Law No. 12353, which provides for the right of the police to evacuate children from areas of active hostilities even in the absence of parental consent. Information about the signing of the document is published in the law card on the official website of the Verkhovna Rada.
After signing the law, the procedure for evacuating children from areas where active hostilities are ongoing acquires a clearer procedure and additional response tools. According to the information published in the document card, the decision on mandatory evacuation is made by military administrations based on the submission of the military command, which means an assessment of the security situation taking into account the real threat to the civilian population.
The organization of the departure of children is carried out by the police together with one of the parents or a legal representative, and the issue of forced evacuation is agreed with the Coordination Headquarters. In cases where adults refuse to leave the territory under fire or in the immediate vicinity of the front line, the law provides for the possibility of removing the child without their consent with subsequent transfer to guardianship authorities.
