INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Two American babies born to a surrogate mother from eastern Ukraine and evacuated to Russia after the start of the war have been returned to
parents, the private group behind the operation, Project Dynamo, said Wednesday.The twins, a boy and a girl, were "rescued" Tuesday after
former military personnel in 2021 to help evacuate U.S
and Afghan allies during the chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan.The children were not kidnapped but evacuated to Estonia
Ukraine partially occupied by Russian forces
Fleeing the war, she first sought refuge in Crimea before reaching St
Petersburg, where she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, in early September, according to the release.The babies were sent to an
orphanage in the city and the parents, a couple from Texas who requested anonymity, had sought to get them back unsuccessfully
The parents then contacted the NGO and one of its co-founders, Bryan Stern, traveled to Estonia to set up the mission from the town of
Narva, on the Russian border.The release does not specify how the extraction of the babies occurred, stating only that "the mission took
embassies in Moscow and Tallinn, without providing details to any assistance they may have offered.Questioned about what help the U.S
embassies offered, the spokesman for the NGO simply said they had "played a role."The U.S
State Department also declined to provide clarification."We are aware of this information," a spokesman said
"For privacy reasons, we will not comment further at this time."U.S
citizenship is automatically granted to children of American couples born abroad to surrogate mothers or through in-vitro fertilization,
provided that at least one parent has biological ties to the baby.
