- According to Ukrainian authorities, more than 16,000 children were taken from their families. The International Criminal Court has also issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for the war crime of “illegal deportation” of Ukrainian children.
- This Wednesday, a van belonging to the Save Ukraine association brought seventeen children back to their parents who had been stuck in a summer camp in Crimea under Russian occupation for six months.
- “When I saw my father, I said to myself that I would finally go home,” testifies Nikita, who was finally able to see her father again with her sisters Diana and Yana.
From our special correspondent in Kiev,
Denys stomps in his bottle-green coat under the blazing Kiev sun. The family man is feverishly awaiting the return of his three children: Diana, 14; Yana, 11 years old and Nikita, 10 years old. When the Save Ukraine club’s black van appears at the corner of the red brick building, it sped off. The club’s president, Mykola Kuleba, slams the door shut and Denys can’t stop himself. He tilts his head and looks from child to child, hoping to catch a glimpse of them. When suddenly a bright yellow sweater and a disarming smile grab his attention. The youngest of the group throws himself into his father’s arms.
The little boy enjoys a fatherly hug he hadn’t known for six months. He was stuck with his sisters in a summer camp in Yevpatoria, Crimea. “When I saw my father, I said to myself that I would finally go home,” Nikita breathes a sigh of relief a little later. The siblings, separated from his family, sound like a symbol, while Kiev accuses Moscow of massively deporting Ukrainian children. According to Ukrainian authorities, more than 16,000 children have been kidnapped by Russia since the invasion began. The Kremlin claims to have “saved” 733,000 Ukrainian children. Last Friday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for the war crime of “illegally deporting” Ukrainian children.
“Dangerous and Extremely Expensive” Odysseys
“This arrest warrant was issued thanks to organizations like us that documented these crimes and alarmed public opinion,” says the President of Save Ukraine. This organization enabled the return of seventeen children from Kherson and Kharkiv Oblasts on Wednesday. According to the association For Ukraine, Their Freedom and Ours, fewer than 200 children have been rescued in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. “It is dangerous and extremely expensive to make these trips to rescue deported children. Sometimes mothers find the facility where their child is being held, go there, but unfortunately cannot bring them back,” explains Mykola Kuleba. To pick up children who, like Nikita, are sent to a summer camp in Crimea, you have to make a big detour, because it is impossible to cross the front. And the trip lasted a good week through Russia, and then Belarus.
Denys and his three children after six months of separation. -D.Regny
“It was tough on the border with Belarus,” admits Diana. “It took a long time, they looked at all our documents, they searched all our things. And after that we had to walk a kilometer to cross the border, I’m still in pain,” laughs the eldest of the siblings. Yula herself traveled to Crimea to pick up her 12-year-old son Maxim. Armed with a power of attorney, the family’s mother also brought back three other children. “They agreed to bring my son back to me without any fuss. But I waited an hour for the other three because they asked for confirmation from Moscow,” she explains.
” I feel guilty “
These parents, living under Russian occupation at the time, decided to send their children to summer camps, prompted by advertisements played on the radio and teachers who advised them to do so. “The children’s teacher called us after a strike near their school. She suggested sending her to a summer camp away from the war. I thought it was a good idea,” recalls Denys. But after the Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Russians did not send their children home. Yula tells a similar story.
Yula blames herself for letting her son Maxim go. -D.Regny
“I signed a letter saying he’s going to summer camp for two weeks. We always hid in the basement because of the bombing, there was no school. Maxim wanted to leave, many children left,” the mother recalls. The memory hurts. Yula clutches her water bottle, finally her only son by her side. “I didn’t find it dangerous,” she breathes. ” I feel guilty. I regret,” she breathes, her gaze fixed on her shoes. The children do not report abuse. “The teachers behaved normally, although they didn’t tell us why we weren’t going home. But I did I didn’t ask her,” Nikita admits.
From the Russian anthem to the absence
The children all had to learn the Russian anthem in this colony, where Ukrainians rubbed shoulders with Russians and Poles. They did exercises every morning while listening to it and also had to sing it regularly. They unanimously complain about the activities that are imposed on them from evening to morning. “We didn’t have any free time,” Diana complains. Singing, painting, soccer, basketball, volleyball… The kids were always busy with activities. On the other hand, they had limited contact with their parents. Denys and his wife, who remained in Kherson Oblast with their fourth child, aged five and a half, communicated occasionally with the eldest of the siblings by phone.
Yula explains that exchanges with her son were messy. The teenager had his phone stolen and his mother had to go through the colony’s team leader to hear from him. “But they were constantly changing. If I had the right contact, I could talk to him once a week. But if not, it was difficult. Sometimes we could only talk once a month,” regrets the mother. A distance that has left its mark. “I didn’t recognize him right away in Crimea… He’s grown so much in six months,” Yula breathes, giving her son a sad look. Absence loosens ties, a nightmare for any Ukrainian parent separated from their child by war. And even more so for those fraudulently adopted in Russia who they fear will never be found again.