Ruslan, 6, and his brother Bogdan, 5, lost their parents after the Russian occupation of Boutcha, at the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
Last April, Boutcha’s pictures caused a sensation on the international scene and even caused the exchange between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin to be temporarily interrupted. After the Russians withdrew from this city in the suburbs of Kyiv, dozens of corpses were discovered, sometimes lying on the street, still on their bicycles, or in basements.
Among the victims of attacks by Vladimir Putin’s men are the parents of Ruslan (6) and Bogdan (5). Two war orphans who eventually found refuge with Dmytro and Natalia Potienko, a Ukrainian family living south of Kyiv. Although they were already parents to a little girl, when they found out about the existence of orphans in Boutcha, they did not hesitate.
“We just knew we had to help them”
“With our bulletproof vests on, we left for Boutcha 3 hours away. We didn’t know if there were still missiles that might fall. All we knew was that we had to help them as soon as possible. Boutcha was off-limits to civilians, but the ambulances got us through,” Dmytro, who runs a hospital, told BFMTV.
Very quickly, the two orphans found a foothold in the Potienko family house, together with their new sister Oleksandra, who, like Ruslan, is 6 years old.
“We didn’t say anything in particular, but spontaneously they started calling us mom and dad. They understood that we came to look for them in our family,” Dmytro continues.
children without memories
Given the possible trauma they have experienced, the two brothers are psychologically haunted. Nothing is known about the fate of their parents, and both Bogdan and Ruslan cannot or do not want to remember their past in Boutcha under Russian occupation.
When asked if he remembers anything, Ruslan brushes off the question: “Not at all.”
“They never talk about it, they can never say where they lived and with whom, they have no memory. Well, maybe they are, but they are stuck, they just live in the present,” says Natalia.
“It’s so lucky”
Together with Dmytro, they have obtained legal custody of the two boys, but are not yet fully their parents under Ukrainian law: adoptions have been frozen since the beginning of the war.
A detail for Dmytro, whom the war made the father of two more children.
“We knew what we were doing. And yes, it’s more work, but they bring me so much more than I give them, it’s so much fun,” he says.
Clemence Dibout and Johan Demarle, with Jules Fresard