In 1948, the Chinese police arrested all the priests and teachers of the Lyceum, after which they were handed over to the USSR and taken to Chita, where they faced repression and were sentenced to GULAG camps.

In 1949, part of the children was evacuated to Brazil, where the St. Vladimir's Boarding School for Russian boys was established in the city of Ita.

Initially, it was located at: 495 Moreira de Costa Street, in the Ipiranga district of São Paulo. One of the students recalled: "I remember that day well. At the 'Júlio Prestes' station of the Sorocabana railway in São Paulo, you could see several dozen boys aged 7 to 14, accompanied by parents, relatives, and acquaintances, waiting for the train and speaking in Russian. The group was led by Father Philip de Regis, the founder of the boarding school. When the train arrived, everyone settled in and headed to the city of Ita, where we arrived at one o'clock in the afternoon. At the Ita station, our large group disembarked. Our good hundred people walked up the calm and clean streets of the small city of Ita. When we arrived, a festive lunch was already laid out on the tables, attended by three Catholic priests, leaders of the 'Bom Jesus' church: Father Victor, Father Zabala, and Father Lopez. The residents of the city of Ita soon learned about us and sympathized with us, the refugee children. We were often sent food, as well as clothing and shoes. The cinemas allowed us in for free on Sundays and holidays during daytime screenings. Entertaining and sports games were held at the famous square, located five minutes from the boarding school. We especially enjoyed playing cops and robbers and football. Of course, in football, when competing with Brazilian children, our boys always lost, despite having such fast forwards."

The children received education at the local public school, and lessons in Russian language, literature, and history were organized for them at the boarding school, with services held in Church Slavonic.