11-Year-Old Ukraine Boy Travels 1,000 Km Alone To Get Safety

Boy's mother sent him to Slovakia by train to find his relatives

In the middle of the war in Ukraine, an 11-year-old Ukrainian boy travelled to Slovakia up to 1,000 km on his own, with a backpack, just his mother's note and a telephone number written on his hand.

The boy was from Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine, the site of a power plant captured by Russian forces last week. According to reports, his parents had to stay back in Ukraine to take care of a sick relative.

After completing an incredible journey, he won over the officials "with his smile, fearlessness and determination, worthy of a true hero", the Slovakian Interior Ministry said in a post calling him "The Biggest Hero of the Last Night".

Reports said, the boy's mother sent him on the journey to Slovakia by train to find his relatives. He had a plastic bag, a passport and a message in a folded note.

When the boy arrived in Slovakia, with the piece of folded paper in his passport apart from the phone number on his hand, officials at the border were able to contact his relatives in the capital, Bratislava, and hand him over to them.

According to reports, the boy's mother sent a message to thank the Slovak government and the police for taking care of his son.

The Slovakian Interior Ministry posted a comment on the boy on Facebook, praising his "fearlessness and determination towards his family".

The Ministry said that, "With a plastic bag, passport and phone number written on his hand, he came completely alone because his parents had to stay in Ukraine only."

"The volunteers took care of him willingly, took him to a warm place and provided him food, water and drinks, which they packed also for him on his next journey."

The post by Slovakian ministry official said "thanks to the number on the hand and a piece of paper in the waist, I managed to contact relatives who came for him later and the whole story ended well".