"Al-Shater" Hassan the Ukrainian .. a child who fled his country alone, walking to Slovakia for a distance of 620 miles

An 11-year-old Ukrainian boy traveled to escape the Russian bombing, and was hailed as a hero by the Slovak authorities, according to CBS News. written on his hand.

The boy, Hassan, traveled about 620 miles by train from Zaporizhia, home of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, to Slovakia to meet his relatives, according to Slovak officials.

Russian forces took control of the plant last week after a battle in which the bombing led to a fire in a training wing of the nuclear facility.

In a video posted on Facebook, the boy's mother said she was a widow and explained that she could not accompany her son because she had to stay with her sick mother, who cannot move.

“I am so grateful that they saved my child’s life,” Yulia Besetskaya said. “In your small country, there are people with big hearts. Please save our Ukrainian children and give them a safe haven.”

For his part, Slovak Interior Minister Roman Miculic said on Facebook that once Hassan crossed the border safely, "volunteers and the Slovak authorities provided him with food and water" while using the phone number on his hand to contact his relatives.

Besetskaya thanked the Slovak authorities for helping her son, as well as the customs officers who "taken his hand and helped him cross the border".

Mikulik wrote on Facebook after meeting the boy: "Little Hassan is only 11 years old, but in his way he showed great determination and courage that adults sometimes do not have."

He then continued, "I am really sorry for him and all the other children and their families who had to flee their country because of what is happening in Ukraine."

More than two million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion of the country, according to the United Nations, including hundreds of thousands of children.

"Hassan has won everyone's hearts with his smile and determination... he deserves to be a true hero," the Slovak Interior Ministry said on Facebook.

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