The stories of the stolen children of Ukraine

Imagine that war has broken out in your country. You've lost your home, and countless family and friends have been injured. To make matters worse, the enemy has taken your children, the aggressors, the ones causing so much pain and suffering in your country.

This is the tragic reality that thousands (possibly hundreds of thousands) of families have faced since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Not only have hundreds of thousands died, homes, hospitals, and infrastructures been bombed, but Russia has sneakily been repatriating Ukrainian children without parental consent.

In June 2023, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, told the media that over 200,000 Ukrainian children had been forcibly deported to Russia or a Russian-occupied territory since February of 2022.

However, it seems that may be a moderate estimate; the Ukrainian Presidential Advisor on child rights, Daria Herasymchuk told the media that she believes the number could be as high as 300,000.

Even worse, according to Radio Free Europe, in a report published on July 30, 2023, Russian children's commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova said more than 700,000 Ukrainian children had been taken from Ukraine to Russia since issues between the two countries arose in 2014.

Naturally, the Russian government insists that all these Ukrainian children came to Russia due to the express wishes of their parents and relatives.

However, the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) has documented proof that Russia carried out nonconsensual evacuations, which OSCE says are war crimes.

Furthermore, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin's arrest in March 2023 and the Russian commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their role in these ongoing war crimes.

The stories of the children who have been lucky enough to be returned are now coming to light. And the tales they have to share would certainly qualify as any parent's worst nightmare.

According to the OCE's report released to the public in May 2023, once a Ukrainian child has been taken to Russia, it can be very difficult to get back, "The Russian Federation does not take any steps to actively promote the return of Ukrainian children. Rather, it creates various obstacles for families seeking to get their children back."

As reported by the media outlet Reuters, Ukrainian orphans Ivan, age 17 and Maksym, age 16, told their story of being forcibly taken to Russian territory at The Hague in the Netherlands.

The two teenage boys, along with four more Ukrainian youngsters, shared their experiences through the campaign "Bring Kids Back UA." The campaign launched in mid-September and is run by Orphans Feeding Foundation, a Dutch NGO.

Ivan and Maksym were both students at the Mariupol Technical School of Building, where they both lived and studied. However, when the city came under Russian attack, the bombs forced them to flee by foot in March 2022.

In an interview with Reuters, the youngsters said they went to the nearest village seeking shelter and ended up at the local hospital as there was no other place to go. The two told the hospital employees they were orphans, so the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk hospital was called along with child protective services and the two were taken away.

Ivan told Reuters: "We didn't want to go there, but we didn't have a choice. We were fed four times a week. We spent time in our rooms and played on our phones. They let us go outside for one hour a day, and not every day. There was nothing for us to do."

Ivan and Maxsym were held for months with no possibility of contacting anyone they knew, along with many other children. The two boys were not very hopeful they would ever be able to return to non-occupied Ukraine until one fateful day, the mayor of Donetsk gave them SIM cards.

The teenagers were very fortunate because they were able to contact the headmaster of their school (also their legal guardian), Anton Bilai, who had desperately been searching for the boys.

Bilai told Reuters about his remarkable journey to save the boys. He had to travel over 4000 km (2,500 miles) through Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and then through Russia to reach Ivan and Maksym in Donetsk.

Anton Bilai told the media outlet, "These were the first children returned from the occupied territory. Before the war ... they were orphans. All I can say is that now they are my children."

Liza is another stolen Ukrainian child who shared her story with Politico. In the fall of 2022, Liza's mother finally agreed to allow her 16-year-old daughter to move out and live in a dorm at the local trade school in Kherson. Liza was studying to be a pastry chef and wanted a "normal" studying experience; however, both the city of Kherson and the surrounding area were occupied by the Russians.

Liza's mother told Politico that her daughter went missing just one week after classes started, as did dozens of her classmates. Liza's mother told the news outlet, "Through a social service, I discovered that they all have been taken to Crimea for vacation. But I did not give my permission for it."

It quickly became apparent that Liza hadn't been sent off on an ordinary vacation...especially when she hadn't returned in three months. Liza's mother told Politico that her daughter was threatened and forced to relocate to study in Genischesk, a Russian-occupied region of Ukraine.

Liza told Politico what life in Genishchesk was like: "It was so cold in that old dorm. We were surrounded by Russian soldiers. Not allowed to close the doors in our rooms. The soldiers could have come with a check even at night."

Liza and all the other dozens of children at the dormitory in Genishchesk had to follow a Russian curriculum and were given presents by the soldiers if they appeared to have a pro-Russian attitude.

After much effort, Liza's mother found her daughter on social media and Liza told her mother that she now had a Russian phone number and was constantly being offered Russian citizenship, which Liza refused. After eight long months, Liza's mother learned her daughter had been declared an orphan by the Russian state.

Liza's friend told Politico that the Russians wanted to be seen as liberators; however, they also threatened to send the children for re-education in Chechnya if they didn't toe the line. Liza and her friend say they constantly asked to be sent home to their parents; however, nothing ever came of it.

Finally, when Liza's mother, with the help of Save Ukraine, was able to reunite the documents, she needed to force the Russians to release her daughter; she then had to travel through the European Union to get her daughter. On May 22, 2023, Liza was finally allowed to leave.

Photo: saveukraineua.org

The stories of Liza, Ivan, and Maksym are almost identical to those of thousands and thousands of other children and their guardians. Yes, the parents might agree to send them to a boarding school for safekeeping, but the children are quickly bussed off to a far-off location, either in Russia or Russian-occupied Ukraine.

Then, they are denied contact with their families and indoctrinated in what is essentially an attempt at cultural genocide. So far, according to several NGOs involved in the rescue of stolen Ukrainian children, only around 400 kids have been reunited with their families.

In the OSCE report from May 2023, the committee writes, "Whatever the form of placement, Ukrainian children find themselves in an entirely Russian environment, including language, customs and religion and are exposed to [a] pro-Russian information campaign often amounting to targeted re-education as well as being involved in military education."

Undoubtedly, Russia hopes to eliminate Ukrainian culture and identity; however, the Kremlin also sees Ukrainian kids as resources. Mariia Sulialina, head of the Almenda, an NGO that documents violations against the rights of children, told Politico, "For Russia, Ukrainian children are a resource. They want to raise a new generation that will spread Russian values … They need a new generation of soldiers to throw them into war."