From the start of the invasion, the Russian authorities purposefully removed children from Ukraine, aiming to turn them against their homeland.
Some have returned to tell their stories. Thousands of others have not been as lucky.
Wounded in the eye from an explosion, Oleksandr Radchuk, an 11-year-old Ukrainian boy from the destroyed city of Mariupol, waited calmly in a tent while Russian soldiers interrogated his mother.
The two had been taken prisoner after their port city came under prolonged attack by Russian forces in the spring of 2022. His mother, Snizhana Kozlova, was gone for 90 minutes. When the Russian guards brought her back, she hugged him wordlessly. Then social services officials arrived and took charge of him.
“We were crying, I couldn’t believe they were taking me away,” the boy, now 13, who goes by Sasha, recounted in an interview in the presence of his grandmother, Lyudmyla Siryk. His mother was detained and he has not seen or heard from her in the 20 months since.
Sasha is one of thousands of Ukrainian children forcibly separated from their parents by the Russian authorities in the early stages of the war in Ukraine, now nearly two years old. They are among the most forlorn victims of Russia’s invasion.
Some were wounded or orphaned in bombardments on Ukrainian towns and villages. Some were left homeless and alone after parents were detained. Others were separated from families believing they were sending their children to summer camp.
“They threatened us with an orphanage to make our parents collect us.” — Yevheniia Kondratieva, 15, with her mother, Maryna.
A portrait of Yevheniia Kondratieva and her mother, Maryna.
A portrait of Yevheniia Kondratieva and her mother, Maryna.
“I think all the children who were taken away will remember this date for the rest of their lives.” — Denys Berezhnyi, 18.
A portrait of Denys Berezhnyi.
A portrait of Denys Berezhnyi.
“They said they would give us an apartment, register us as refugees, pay us money, but we refused.” — Kseniia Honcharova, 12, left, with her
sister, Anastasiia, 13.
A portrait of Kseniia and Anastasiia Honcharova,
A portrait of Kseniia and Anastasiia Honcharova,
“I missed my home and my parents.” — Serhii Orlov, 12.
A portrait of Serhii Orlov.
A portrait of Serhii Orlov.
“They can’t manage to win this with physical force, so they try to lure us to their side psychologically.” — Anastasiia Motychak, 16.
2023-12-26 23:40:47
Link from www.nytimes.com
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