In Chernivtsi region, the TCC is holding without contact the stepfather of a disabled child and the family’s sole breadwinner

In Vyzhnytsia, Chernivtsi region, a stepfather of a severely disabled child was forcibly mobilized.

A video appeal for help was posted on social media by the detained man’s wife — the child’s mother.

According to the woman, her husband is the family’s sole breadwinner, and she is physically unable to care for their teenage son, who, judging by the video, has cerebral palsy.

“They didn’t take into account that my husband is the one who looks after our child. I don’t even know how to get him out of the car. His legs are bent. How am I supposed to manage alone with a child like this, when my husband has been held for two days? He’s not answering, and I have no strength left. They’re not considering any documents. His phone was taken away — he’s at the TRC (Territorial Recruitment Center) in Vyzhnytsia. People, please help! Pay attention! I’ve never asked for help before, but now I’m begging, because this is lawlessness,” she says in the video, standing at the gates of the TRC holding her son — a boy who is visibly unable to move on his own and already quite large in size.

The woman also said she can’t even bathe her son alone because he is too heavy to carry, and without her husband, she can’t meet even basic hygiene needs for him. She added that she and her husband have been legally married since 2007.

Under Ukrainian law, a stepfather is eligible for deferment from mobilization if he is the sole able-bodied provider for a family with a disabled child. However, according to the woman, officials at the TRC told her that the stepfather does not qualify for deferment.