Walter Polovchak

Walter Polovchak (; born 3 October 1967) is a Ukrainian-American man who, as a child, became the center of the legal case Polovchak v. Meese after he refused, at 12, to leave the United States to return to Ukraine, then part of the USSR, with his parents.

Background The Polovchak family consisted of parents Michael, a bus driver, and Anna, a confectionery factory employee, The parents sought the assistance of the police to get their children back, but upon the advice of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and of the US State Department, the police decided not to return the children to their parents but instead to start custody proceedings in an Illinois court.

In March 2022, he spoke his opinions about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying “Russia is mercilessly killing Ukrainian children and families, destroying neighbourhoods, opera houses, churches and anything they can basically hit, It's very shocking but not surprising. The Russian government and Putin are thugs. They cannot be trusted, they consistently lie about everything - it's nothing but lies and propaganda." Walter also said that hearing about the war breaking out was “really disheartening” but that it wasn't surprising because “war criminal Putin has set in his mind that he wants to recreate the former Soviet Union."