Pretitle, Sound

ALLA: It deeply affected me mentally

I blamed myself for not insisting he didn't go there.

10:00:03:08

DANIL: I wanted to go home

They said that our parents abandoned us-

and won't come to take us back.

10:00:23:13

CARD

In 2022 thousands of Ukrainian children were reported missing after Russia's occupation.

10:00:31:05

OKSANA: It's too painful, I was just trying to figure out what to do next.

10:00:36:13

CARD

Some were taken by Russian soldiers.

10:00:42:23

VOLODYMYR: They started, as I believe, to deport people and they started moving all of the children from schools, colleges and universities.

10:00:47:22

OLGA: They told him: "If you don't come, we will take you by force."

10:01:03:09

CARD

Many were sent to 'holiday camps' inside Russia – unable to return home.

10:01:09:10

YANA: We were required to speak Russian.

Anything connected to Ukraine was prohibited.

Those who violated this rule would be punished.

10:01:15:24

CARD

Others were fostered and used in pro-war rallies.

10:01:25:20

Archive Rally: Russian State TV

Welcome…the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.    

(crowd cheering)

ANYA: Thank you, Uncle Yura for saving me, my sister and hundreds of thousands of children from Mariupol.

HOST: Anya don't be shy… Go hug him!

Everyone, give a hug.  It's the man who saved you all…

10:01:34:05

DIANA: They forced the Ukrainian Army from the city and then pretended to be our saviours.

10:01:52:07

CARD

Those responsible are wanted for alleged war crimes….

but say they were just helping children.

10:02:01:02

10:02:05:05

Russian State TV

LVOVA-BELOVA: Our Russian citizens are big-hearted.

PUTIN: They are queueing up to take these children.

We shouldn't be thinking about formalities but about the best interests of the child.

10:02:09:16

LVOVA-BELOVA: They were accepted by Russia because of the difficult situation and threat to their lives and health.

10:02:23:03

CARD

This is a story about alleged abduction and indoctrination.

10:02:30:08

KOSTYA: They were trying to confuse us.

So that we wouldn't leave.

To turn us against Ukraine.

10:02:35:20

DENIS: We made our historic choice to be together with Russia.                 And President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin supports us.

10:02:40:20

CARD

And about the women trying to get their children back.

10:02:50:15

OLGA: He has called several times crying, saying "please pick me up! "You don't know what's going to happen It's scary to even think about it

10:02:58:07

Title

UKRAINE’S STOLEN CHILDREN

10:03:10:07

CARD

Kherson, Southern Ukraine

10:03:20:20

VOLODYMYR: My daughter called me and said-

"Dad, war has started."

I looked out from the balcony and saw black clouds.

10:03:27:03

Archive of the occupation of Kherson:

COMM

On the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, its troops entered Kherson.

10:03:47:12

COMM

On the city’s outskirts, Volodymir Sahaidak ran an orphanage.

He had 52 children under his care.

10:04:00:03

10:04:08:20

CAPTION:

Volodymir Sahaidak, Orphanage Director

VOLODYMIR: We were hoping we would be evacuated.

We were ready.

All the kids had packed their bags.

When it was clear to me this wasn't going to happen-

I started planning how to hide the children.

10:04:19:06

VOLODYMIR: I had orphans,

children deprived of parental care and children with difficult life circumstances.

10:04:31:22

COMM

Volodymir decided to stay with the children in the orphanage. With only 2 staff members he relied on the older children to help him.

One of them was Denis, then 16.

10:04:44:04

Denis in orphanage archive.

CAPTION: Denis

The younger children understood from the first days of the war that the country is in a very difficult situation.

But we older children help the carers look after younger children.

We don't tell them much, otherwise they'll panic.

We urgently need humanitarian aid because we're under a blockade.

It's difficult psychologically…

because in five minutes a crazy Russian shell can land from tanks.

And it's hard for me because I can't see my relatives.

10:05:01:06

10:05:07:22

COMM

One of Denis’ closest family friends is his godmother, Olga.

10:05:43:09

OLGA over shots of Denis

CAPTION: Olga, Denis’s Godmother

OLGA: People were in a panic.

Nobody knew where to go-

It was horrible.

Denis was in an orphanage in Stepanivka. Volodymyr tried to keep them safe.

10:05:55:11

COMM

Denis entered the orphanage after his mum died when he was 6 and his father was denied parental rights.

10:06:02:24

VOLODYMIR: He is a very bright child.

Well-read.

He is eloquent.

He can adapt to any situation.

He finds ways to talk to everyone.

He always helped with the younger children.

10:06:11:23

Denis’s TikTok, May 13 2022

I love Ukraine,

and I love Russia,

but I hate Putin,

and the Russian elite, who started this war.

10:06:35:19

CCTV Archive

VOLODYMIR: We didn't go outside because shells were flying around and it was dangerous.

We lived like this for 5 months and then the FSB and Russian journalists started coming here.

It was dangerous to stay here, so we started hiding the children.

We sent some children back to their relatives.

Some were taken by our staff.

10:06:51:19

VOLODYMIR: Denis was taken in by his elder brother who was over 18.

10:07:26:10

COMM

Within months, the Russian Authorities had taken children from other orphanages in Kherson to Russia or to occupied Crimea.

10:07:37:13

VOLODYMIR: People don't understand what occupation is like.

When I went to get food there were two Russian military vehicles.

The Russians were checking everything.

They were undressing people.

They checked my car and documents.

They checked telephones too.

10:07:47:18

COMM

When the Russians occupied the Kherson region, over a million Ukrainians lived there.

10:08:11:12

COMM

Among them was 14-year-old Kostya, living in a village with his father and sisters.

Under the strict curfew they were allowed out only to get food.

10:08:26:13

CAPTION:

Kostya

I was with my family.

They said they were handing out humanitarian aid.

I went to get it in the afternoon, but the trucks had already left.

They said come back tomorrow at noon.

So, I returned home.

When I got there, I saw two soldiers’ men standing there.

I had no idea what was going on.

They pointed automatic rifles at me and asked who I was.

I told them my name and answered their questions.

They said that based on their information there's Ukrainian military in our house.

I asked them "What kind of military?"

I said, "There's only my father, my sisters and that's it."

"Nobody else."

They said, "Go ahead, tell them to open the front door."

But I didn't do what they said.

I pretended to knock to get the door open.

When my sisters ran up, I whispered to them not to open the door.

10:08:36:03

CAPTION:

Liza, Kostya’s Sister

LIZA: He was standing at the door.

At first, we thought he was joking-

That he wanted to scare us.

We asked: "Are you joking around?"

He said no and whispered,

"Don’t open up, there are soldiers in the barn."  

 10:09:52:00

KOSTYA: The whole yard was filled with these military men.

10:09:58:00

COMM

Kostya says soldiers took him to a nearby basement where he was detained all night.

10:10:03:08

KOSTYA: They shoved me into the basement, tied my hands and put a sack over my head.

10:10:10:09

COMM

His family thought Kostya had been taken away by the Russian military.

10:10:18:10

KOSTYA: I've dreamed of joining the Special Forces since I was a kid and I knew how to untie my hands.

I removed the sack and went upstairs to get out.

I started knocking on our door, saying they're gone, no one's here.

In response, silence, no one was home.

10:10:23:18

COMM

Kostya’s family was scared the soldiers would return so they’d already taken what they could and fled. 

10:10:49:20

LIZA: We were gone by then. We grabbed things and ran away.

He found a mess and decided that we must have been taken by soldiers.

Then the road was blocked, and it was impossible to come back.

The soldiers closed it.

We told our neighbour before leaving that Kostya should go to

her place and stay there.

We gave her keys and money.

10:10:56:08

KOSTYA: I moved in with my neighbour.

I lived with her.

Everything was ok-

I was helping her in the garden and around the house.

10:11:21:11

COMM

By September, as the Russians re-opened local schools and colleges, more children from the Kherson region were being caught up in the chaos.

10:11:34:11

COMM

Danil, then 14, was happy to be back with his classmates.

10:11:46:18

CAPTION:

Danil

DANIL: I went to school during the occupation and the teachers were

nice and taught us well.

SHAHIDA: Were they the same teachers as before?

DANIL: No, it was a different school, with different teachers.

They were locals.

But the principal, as we were told, was Russian.

10:11:55:04

COMM

14 year old Diana, her sister Yana and their younger brother Nikita were also enrolled in a Russian-controlled school.

10:12:13:12

CAPTION:

Yana

YANA: One day, while we were at school –

during the penultimate lesson a rocket struck the Court of Appeal.

They instructed us to gather together and led us all to the basement.

10:12:33:22

COMM

By October 2022 the Ukrainian army were making progress in pushing the Russians out of Kherson.

As shelling intensified, some parents got offers from Russian officials to send their children to holiday camps in Russia and Crimea by the seaside for two weeks to keep them safe. 

 10:12:46:04

10:13:00:08

DANIL: The form teacher wrote on our group chat that there's a chance to go on holiday to a camp for 2 weeks.

But my mum told me I'm not going anywhere.

10:13:11:01

CAPTION:

Alla Yatsentyuk, Danil’s Mother

ALLA: I felt anxious. But the children who left in the first round started sending him videos on social networks about their journey.

How they were welcomed and how everything was going well.

And Danya convinced me, saying, "Mum, they went...and nothing happened."

10:13:30:17

COMM

The camp was located in Russian occupied Crimea nearly 200 miles from home. 

10:13:50:01

DANIL: There were many buses.

Let's say, around 4 buses were on the way to the camp.

And the next day, another 4 buses as well.

The whole camp contained about 3000-4000 people.

10:13:56:19

COMM

Diana and her two younger siblings went to the same camp too.

10:14:09:24

CAPTION:

Diana

DIANA: They closed the schools and said:

"You're going to the camp for two weeks: the city is being shelled,

you should have a break from it".

We went to the camp with some of our teachers.

But when Kherson came under heavy attack, our teachers abandoned us. They went to be with their families, and we were left alone in the camp.

10:14:19:17

ALLA: A week later, after the children had been taken away, the Russians announced an evacuation of Kherson.

By that time, we were already aware that it was all a disguised deportation of children to Russia.

10:14:47:07

SAHAIDAK: On October 19, they started, as I believe, to deport people.

And they started moving all of the children from schools, colleges and universities.

10:15:01:00

COMM

Among them were Denis and some of his college friends.

According to Denis he was taken by armed Russian soldiers and moved far away to southern Russia.

10:15:17:13

OLGA: Russians entered his dorm and said the children will be taken to Crimea.

Denis said: "I don't want to go there."

They told him: "If you don't come, we will take you by force."

What could he do?

Only pack and go with them.

10:15:29:19

CARD

Occupied Crimea

10:15:53:15

COMM

At the holiday camp in Crimea, children had been looking forward to going back home.

But at the end of the two weeks, the real situation became clear.

10:15:57:10

DANIL: The Chief of Security told us that we'd be staying there for a year.

Because the Russians had left Kherson-

And it wasn't safe for us children to be returned to Ukrainian soldiers.

10:16:11:05

ALLA: I tried to contact the camp where Danil was living, but no one would respond.

Every time I asked about my child, they either hung up the phone or claimed that the number was unavailable.

It deeply affected me mentally.

I blamed myself for not insisting he didn't go there.

10:16:27:07

DIANA: We were left alone.

Completely alone in a foreign city, in an unfamiliar country surrounded by unfamiliar and unfriendly people.

SHAHIDA: Did you cry often?

DIANA: Yes, I did.

It was confusing.

I didn't understand why all of this was happening.

10:16:49:14

COMM

Meanwhile, Kostya – who was still living in Kherson with his neighbour, Valya – had been asked to go to a different camp in southern Russia.

10:17:11:17

KOSTYA: Valya asked "Do you want to go to the camp?"

I said "Yes!".

I was excited.

10:17:21:12

CARD

Anapa, Russia

10:17:30:00

KOSTYA: We got off in Anapa and then went to this camp.

I spent 21 days there.

At the end of the month, we were transferred to the second level of the building.

It was very nicely renovated.

It looked like it was for the rich.

The food was like in a restaurant.

I spent a month there.

COMM

With communications damaged by the fighting in Kherson Kostya’s family couldn’t get through to Valya.

10:18:05:09

LIZA, KOSTYA’S SISTER: We didn't know what happened to him.

He didn't have a mobile, so we had no information.

COMM

Alla was anxiously trying to find ways to bring her son Danil back.

10:18:24:09

ALLA: Really trying to find him….

The shortest route to Crimea, which was the only way, was already completely blocked.

I tried to contact various drivers many times, attempting to find a way to reach Crimea.

Different volunteers offered help but the amounts they quoted were truly astronomical - I needed to have $1500 - $3000 to go.

I didn't have that money at the time, and I still don't.

COMM

Denis too had started calling his family saying he was desperate to come back.

10:18:56:23

OLGA: He has called several times crying "please pick me up!"

We didn't know what to think.

We didn't know who to call.

10:19:17:14

CARD

END OF PART 1

CARD

UKRAINE’S STOLEN CHILDREN PART 2

10:19:22:14

CARD

Kyiv

10:19:28:02

COMM

As more and more families lost contact with their children, they started calling charities to get advice. The scale of the problem soon became clear.

10:19:33:16

CAPTION:

Katernya Fedonseko, Lawyer, Save Ukraine

KATERYNA: Save Ukraine is helping to bring back deported and displaced children to Ukraine.

We are contacted by parents, grandparents or relatives who tell us what happened.

10:19:49:21

COMM

Oksana was one of the mothers who contacted Save Ukraine - desperate to find and bring home her 12 year old son Nikita.

10:20:10:13

OKSANA: When the occupation started the first things we saw were aircraft.

10:20:20:13

CAPTION:

Oksana Stetsenko, Nikita’s Mother

OKSANA: The battlefield between Russians and Ukrainians unfolded right in front of my house.

Everyone sought refuge in the cellars.

We survived on rainwater.

What else could we do? Where could we go?

10:20:21:24

CARD

Kupyansk, Eastern Ukraine

10:20:25:05

COMM

Eventually, the Russians re-opened schools in the area and Oksana sent Nikita back to his boarding school.  It was on the other side of the Oskol River, connected by a key bridge.

10:20:51:13

OKSANA: We said goodbye and kissed.

I told Nikita, "In a week, I'll pick you up."

10:21:06:03

COMM

But within the week a missile destroyed the bridge. Nikita’s school was cut off from Oksana’s village.

10:21:15:19

OKSANA: Everyone – soldiers and children – were screaming.

Why? How?  What do I do now and how? How can I get him now?

I don't want to relive this. I don't want to at all. It's too painful.

10:21:22:19

OKSANA: I was trying to figure out what to do next and how to cross that river.

But we couldn't find another way.

We had no phone signal.

No electricity.

No one could get in touch with me-

I could not contact them either.

10:21:44:07

COMM

Olga’s concerns for Denis were also growing.

Privately, he had been phoning his family pleading for them to bring him back.

But now, he started appearing on Russian State Television draped in a Russian flag.

10:22:12:14

Russian State TV, February 2023

I am taking part in the volunteer movement.

I really like it. It helps young and old people.

I would like to join the Young Army Cadets.

10:22:22:03

SAHAIDACK: I think this was a propaganda trick.

He was forced to do this. Denis was asking to go home.

10:22:40:17

CARD

Occupied Crimea

10:22:51:01

COMM

By now the children from Kherson had been stuck in the Russian holiday camp for four months - separated from their parents.

10:22:58:17

DIANA: Throughout the morning and afternoon, we had visual arts

singing and physical education. They even offered chess.

The children found ways to earn money.

Some bet on sports on the Internet and made good money from it.

10:23:08:09

YANA: We celebrated the New Year.

They said gifts would be delivered the next day and Santa would arrive by boat.

Then the next day we woke up at six and started looking for presents.

We checked everywhere in the room, but they didn't bring us any presents.

They said that Santa didn't make it.

We asked: "Did he drown in the boat with the gifts?"

10:23:31:05

DIANA: We were moved to terrible housing with appalling conditions.

When we settled into the rooms, some, even the toilet, didn't have doors.

BOY ON TOILET: "It's like this"

DIANA: It felt more like a closed prison-like environment.

YANA: We were required to speak Russian. Anything connected to Ukraine was prohibited. Those who violated this rule would be punished. Even small children were locked up in isolation for three or four days.

10:23:56:14

COMM

Diana and Yana’s 10 year old brother Nikita was one of the youngest camp members.

10:24:32:14

CAPTION:

Nikita

NIKITA: We had a legendary omelette. If you pressed it with a fork

a litre of water would pour out.

10:24:44:22

DIANA: Numerous inspections took place and we were made to perform, smile at them, and applaud- shout "Go, Russia!" and sing patriotic songs.

10:24:50:18

DANIL: Hello

BOY: Here’s a plan for how you can make it into history.

DANIL: How?

BOY: Very simple You just need to die!

10:25:04:12

DANIL: Essentially, we got used to the fact that we were not going anywhere.

They said that our parents abandoned us and wouldn't come to take us back.

SHAHIDA: Were there many who believed that?

DANIL: Yes.

10:25:12:00

NIKITA: Diana, she said we would be leaving soon.

SHAHIDA: Did you believe her?

NIKITA: Well, yes.

Well, of course, I didn't always believe her.

10:25:25:22

SHAHIDA: Did it feel like everyone had abandoned you?

DIANA: Yes, it did, as they had already started discussing adoption

and Russian documents.

DANIL: But the children kept saying that they have parents:

"I have a mother already."

"Why would you send me to an orphanage?"

10:25:37:02

CARD

Moscow

10:25:58:18

CARD

LVOVA-BELOVA on plane

COMM

Poster: “Heroes of a great country!”

Welcome to Moscow.

The process of removing Ukrainian children to Russia is headed by President Putin’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.

10:26:03:25

10:26:07:11

10:26:11:07

Russia TV archive

LVOVA-BELOVA: Today in this rehabilitation centre we've brought 31 children from Mariupol.

These children had very difficult lives. That is why we offered them to come here to the Moscow region, so they could relax and get medical and psychological support.

And most importantly to decide how they are going to live later.

10:26:22:05

COMM

Five months after its invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government fast tracked the process of granting additional Russian citizenship for Ukrainians, including all Ukrainian children taken to Russia.

10:26:46:10

Lvova-Belova + Putin Archive

LVOVA-BELOVA: Russian citizens are big-hearted. They are queueing to take these children.

PUTIN: Very good

LVOVA-BELOVA: If you don't mind, I want to keep working on this.

We have a list of children with documents.

Some children might go to foster families.

Those who have Russian citizenship could be adopted.

Putin: What does citizenship have to do with it? Why not those with any citizenship?

LVOVA-BELOVA: There are some legal formalities that need sorting.

PUTIN: Tell me what they are, we'll sort them out.

These are extreme circumstances, and we shouldn't be thinking about formalities...

But about the best interests of the child

Suggest the amendments and we'll change the law. I'm sure the Parliament will support you.

10:27:02:13

COMM

As reports of missing children began to circulate, the International Criminal Court started to investigate potential war crimes.

In March the Court issued warrants for the arrest of Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for the alleged unlawful deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine.[1]

10:27:47:01

COMM

Lvova-Belova had herself fostered a Ukrainian teenager from Mariupol.

He’s just one of several Ukrainian children who have been shown on Russian TV.

10:28:12:16

FILIP: One day Maria visited me.  I’ll never forget it.

10:28:28:15

COMM

Some displays have been cruder – like this rally involving other children from Mariupol – the city the Russians occupied after a brutal offensive.

10:28:45:08

Archive concert/rally

Russian State TV

HOST: Anechka, darling.

Don't be shy, speak.

We are here with you.

ANYA: Thank you, Uncle Yura for saving me.

Thank you, Uncle Yura for saving me, my sister and hundreds of thousands of children from Mariupol.

HOST: Don't be shy-

Children, let’s all hug. 

Come on, here is the person who saved you!

10:28:38:08

CARD

In Ukraine, lawyers are working with the International Criminal Court trying to build a case against Russia’s removal of children from their country.  They allege it’s part of a wider Russian strategy.

Kyiv

10:29:29:09

10:29:22:22

CAPTION: Kateryna Rashevska, Human Rights Lawyer

KATERYNA RASHEVSKA: They need Ukrainian children to gain political advantage.

Ukraine has to try to get them back and for that we need to negotiate with Russia.

There are no other mechanisms.

They serve as political currency for the future.

10:29:49:11

COMM

With no direct contact to the Russian authorities, Danil’s mother Alla and other families, have decided to go and get their children themselves – however risky.

10:30:06:08

CAPTION: Moscow, Russia

ALLA: Danil witnessed some children leaving and said that Save Ukraine volunteers did that.

I made the call and Katya from Save Ukraine answered. She told me that they offer help, free of charge to travel to Crimea to pick up children and safely bring them back.

I felt uneasy at the first border crossing.

Arriving in Minsk (Belarus), we took a short break before catching a flight to Moscow.

In Moscow, we were interrogated for 14 hours. There, we could talk openly, that we are a group of mothers.

But we avoided mentioning that our purpose was to pick up our children.

Instead, we said that we were going to visit them.

The officer looked at me and seemed pleased with my response and offered free housing in Crimea, emphasising that life there would be good and that they were pleased to have us here.

At the camp, we were greeted by Russian TV.

They told us: "Don't you dare say the wrong things.”

 10:30:16:15

CAPTION: Russian State TV

RUSSIAN TV ANCHORWOMAN: Last autumn, children were sent to Crimea with consent from their parents.

They were saved from shelling and given a chance to rest in nice conditions.

10:31:42:05

ALLA: We were led into a hall as the entire administration of the camp gathered. They all spoke - addressing the cameras.

10:31:48:16

CAPTION: Russian State TV

Irina Klyueva,

Ombudsman in Crimea

IRINA KLYUEVA: For reasons unknown to us, the parents do not come to pick up their children.

Children should be with their families. It doesn't matter where their family is.

10:31:59:19

10:32:00:11

ALLA: We had to sit there and listen, unable to respond.

After enduring this long and challenging journey none of us were able to utter a word.

It could have ruined everything.

10:32:12:12

ALLA: Then I saw Danya rushing towards me.

The emotions overwhelmed us, as we hadn't seen each other for half a year.

I felt my entire body trembling with overwhelming emotions.

10:32:32:21

ALLA on RUSSIAN NEWS REPORT: You've grown up so much!

We spoke on the phone but to see him in person is something different.

10:32:50:17

DANIL: I wanted to go home. I knew that Mum was going to collect me...But I didn't know when.

SHAHIDA: And every day, when you were waiting what did it feel like?

DANIL: I don't know how to describe it

10:33:05:16

ALLA: It felt like, you know-

As if I were…

DANIL: Please don't cry.

ALLA: Okay, okay

You know, it felt like…

It was somehow indescribable. It felt like a second birth inside me.

These emotions will stay with me forever...

The experience of that separation.

10:33:25:14

COMM

Diana, Nikita and Yana also finally made it back to Ukraine.

10:34:23:04

Save Ukraine Footage

REPORTER: How are you feeling?

NIKITA: I'm ok.

DIANA: It is so nice. I'm going to go home and see my Mum.

10:34:29:08

COMM

They now live in a shelter in West Ukraine with their parents.

10:34:43:14

DIANA: Perhaps if our parents hadn't picked us up we might have ended up in a foster family by now and going back home would have been very difficult.

SHAHIDA: Were you afraid of that?

DIANA: Yes.

10:34:49:03

COMM

After four long months of separation, some parents and relatives were managing to reach their children.

But no one had come for Kostya.

10:35:02:17

COMM

KOSTYA: Yes, I was upset. Waiting to be picked up.

Why don't they take me?

He didn’t know that his family still had no idea where he was.

KOSTYA: I went to the front desk and asked if there was a message

about when they'd pick me up.

They said, "The Child Protection Service is coming tomorrow."

"When you're not taken away by your family"

"you're taken to an orphanage or a foster home."

I said: "I choose foster care."

"I don't want to stay here."

I was scared to go because as a child I was told that if I'm taken to a foster family they're going to be drug addicts.

But the family was very kind. As for the food, it was lavish. They brought food every evening.

There were oranges, bananas. Meat every day.

10:35:13:02

10:35:21:03

COMM

Kostya’s Russian foster family was located over 500 miles from his own family’s village.

10:36:21:18

SHAHIDA: Had you been looking for him?

LIZA: Of course, yes.

There was no network. The Russians cut all communication.

10:36:28:18

LIZA: We were so happy when he found us on Instagram.

We started preparing documents and discussing who should go to fetch him.

10:36:36:08

COMM

As Kostya’s father was too ill to travel, Liza volunteered.  But she had to wait until she turned 18 and had a passport.

10:36:44:08

LIZA: I said: “Ok, I'll go”, as no one else could do it.

10:36:53:19

KOSTYA: My sister arrived. At first, I didn't want to leave because they told me in the camp that when you return to Ukraine you can be executed just because you went to Russia.

They can execute you because you're a ‘traitor'.

LIZA: We were shocked.

He asked us to collect him and I came to bring him back and then he changed his mind.

I told him: “Kostya, I came all this way. Are you telling me it was all in vain? Your family is waiting for you”.

KOSTYA: And then they said that when I'm 18 I could get an apartment in Krasnodar (southern Russia).

I would regularly get 30,000 roubles and have a normal life.

And if returned to Ukraine, I would get nothing.

LIZA: They started pressing him, saying:

"You'll have benefits here.... We’ll give you a house."

Sweet fairy tales.

I explained to him how things really are and he changed his mind.

KOSTYA: In the end it was clear to me that if I stayed in Russia, I would never see my Dad again.

And there would be nobody to take me away from here because they wouldn't let me go. I decided to go back and see my Dad.

I'm glad I went there. Nothing to regret.

LIZA: More importantly, he doesn't regret he's back. He's happy now.

KOSTYA: I came back

SHAHIDA: Do you regret it?

LIZA: He doesn't regret it now, but at first he had doubts.

10:37:01:18

KOSTYA: In Russia we were intimidated.  They were trying to confuse our brains......so that we wouldn't leave.  To turn us against Ukraine.

And everybody, all the children, were falling for it.

10:38:28:07

COMM

Office of Save Ukraine

With Denis’s relatives unable to travel to Russia, Olga - Denis’s godmother has volunteered to make the difficult journey herself.

But she can’t do it without support - so she’s come to the offices of Save Ukraine.

 10:38:45:17

10:39:11:18

CAPTION:

Kateryna Fedonsenko, Lawyer, Save Ukraine

KATERYNA FEDOSENKO: Today we're sending our seventh group of mothers to pick up their children who were deported by Russia and bring them back.

There are seven of them: Mothers and also legal representatives.

COMM

Olga is part of the same group of women going to Russia as Oksana.  It had been nine months since Oksana had last seen her son.

10:39:25:10

OKSANA: Well, then Katya calls me and says:

"We can get your son. So go and get him.” 

 10:39:36:07

CAPTION: Mykola Kuleba, Director, Save Ukraine

MYKOLA KULEBA: First of all, I ask you to stay calm.

This is a very stressful journey. You will feel stressed all the time. So, it's important that whenever you can, you try and sleep.

I am warning you from the information we have, you might be questioned. They might question you for hours. Please do not keep anything on your phones. You are on a sacred mission to bring your children back. We will pray for you and hope everything works out.

10:39:46:16

KATERYNA: I am on the phone with them 24/7.

I know if they are hungry or not, if they slept or not, whether they got through, or not.

It's very stressful. We are very worried.

We are waiting to hear from them, so they can bring our children back.

It's a very hard process. So, this is my big job.

10:40:34:23

OLGA & OKSANA ON TRAIN: Grab a seat. Let's have coffee.

10:41:03:21

OLGA: You don't know what's going to happen

SHAHIDA: Does he [Denis] want to come back?

OLGA: Yes, he does, he really does. The last time we spoke to him was a week ago-

And he asked us are you coming?

Are you already on your way?

10:41:18:18

OKSANA: She can't live without her phone.

SHAHIDA: She is checking for war updates.

OKSANA: I can't read anything about it. I take everything to heart.

I can't watch or read anything about it.

Especially when I think about my child being there, my heart bleeds.

10:41:36:03

OKSANA: Where are the tranquilisers they gave us?

OLGA: I don't know

OKSANA: I'd like to take one and go to sleep.

I only slept for one hour. I couldn't sleep at all last night

CARD

TWO DAYS LATER

10:42:09:11

CARD

Kyiv

10:42:14:16

CAPTION: Save Ukraine HQ

KATERYNA: She writes: "I'm scared."

"People in civilian clothes took me for interrogation."

10:42:22:02

COMM

Olga and Oksana have embarked on their rescue missions. They’ve gone via Poland and Belarus to try to reach Moscow.

10:42:28:22

SHAHIDA: What's the current information about Olga?

KATERYNA: I don't know yet.

SHAHIDA: So, you don't know where she is?

KATERYNA: I know she's in Minsk.

But she's not in contact at the moment because when she landed, they took her in for questioning.

She wrote only "I'm waiting",

"They took me away" and that's it.

I constantly check my phone to see when she was last online. So, I'm nervous and waiting.

10:42:38:10

COMM

To add to Kateryna’s worries Denis has been in touch with his family back home.

10:43:06:08

Family Call, May 2023

DENIS AUDIO PHONE CALL: If I come back, the Ukrainian Intelligence

Service will be interested in me. And here I've already been given a voucher to buy a property. It's worth 3 million roubles.

We have food, clothes, people send us money.

10:43:12:03

Offices of Save Ukraine.

KATERYNA: These are not unique cases. Children do change their minds. I'm sure Denis is under pressure.

The danger here is that he will turn 18 on July 1^st. He could be drafted and sent to war. He doesn't realise that yet.

10:43:27:23

KATERYNA: I'm waiting for Olga to contact me.

10:43:55:05

END OF PART TWO

10:44:05:16

CARD: PART 3: UKRAINE’S

STOLEN CHILDREN

COMM

After a worrying 36 hours during which the Save Ukraine Charity had no news about Olga, Kateryna was finally able to make contact.

10:44:10:15

10:44:22:20

CARD

Kyiv

10:44:16:05

FSB PHONE FOOTAGE

CAPTION

RUSSIAN SECURITY SERVICE FOOTAGE

KATERYNA: The latest is that Olga has been deported.

She called me today from Russia and said she is going to be deported.

KATERYNA: Hello?

OLGA: Good afternoon, Kateryna

KATERYNA: Hi Olga, how are you?

OLGA: They haven't let me go yet. I think they will deport me to Belarus.

KATERYNA: Don't worry.

OLGA: What am I supposed to do there?

KATERYNA: We'll help you there, and we'll wait for another chance. The most important thing is that you're ok.

OLGA: Yes, I'm ok

KATERYNA: So don't worry. Why didn't they let you in?  What did they say?

OLGA: They didn't say anything.

KATERYNA: Did you tell them about the purpose of your trip?

OLGA: Yes, I told them I was travelling to pick up a child.

10:44:43:16

SHAHIDA: Kateryna, do you have any idea why this happened?

KATERYNA: I don't know. We need to talk to Olga when she's back.

We'll ask her what she said to them.

SHAHIDA: What the problem was.

KATERYNA: At the moment I can't say.

SHAHIDA: How about the other mums in the same group? 

KATERYNA: Four mums made it through and one mum, who also was questioned together with Olga for a long time, was released.

She'll get some rest and then go to pick up her child.

10:45:28:08

OKSANA: I picked him up at the Luhansk border. The head teacher, or someone, brought him.

People were there from the news. A lot of people surrounded us.

I took my child and left.

10:46:08:19

CAPTION:
Russian State TV, May 2023

OKSANA ON RUSSIAN TV: Mums, the kids are fine.

Don't be afraid. If you need your kids, come and bring them home.

You'll get support.

10:46:37:11

OKSANA: They gave me a document to sign, stating they returned my child healthy and unharmed.

Everything is fine, that's all we go to the park together and the zoo.

Everything is great.

SHAHIDA: I wanted to ask you about Olga, if that's possible?

OKSANA: We were together all the time. Then they took her away

I don't know what happened to her and she doesn't know what happened to me.

10:46:50:20

CAPTION: Ukraine-Belarus Border

OLGA: I was told that I didn't look trustworthy enough to be let in.

Denis is turning 18 soon, that's why they didn't let me in.

DENIS’ GRANDMA: He told us so many fairy-tales- that he's been given a flat, that they give him money.

OLGA: Hold on, hold on

When I was calling Kateryna, two men in civilian clothes were standing next to me and telling me what I had to say.

I had to turn the speaker on. I think the same happened with Denis.

Somebody was next to him telling him what to say.

10:47:48:12

COMM

As weeks pass, Denis is increasingly becoming a part of the Russian propaganda machine.

10:48:36:21

ARCHIVE

DENIS: I represent the Young Army Cadets. Nobody was forced.

10:48:33:10

CAPTION: Denis TikTok

DENIS TIK TOK: Russia's objective is to protect us. And our President guaranteed this. We made our historic choice to be together with Russia. And President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin supports us.

10:48:45:01

OLGA IN THE CAR: I was trying not to act like I was hysterical and about to cry.

I felt like I was about to cry. I stopped myself. Stop, Olga, don't cry. Don't cry.

But when I went to the toilet for 5 minutes I cried as hard as I could

quietly, so no one could see or hear. Unfortunately, I'm coming back without Denis.

It is terrible.

10:49:03:04

COMM

Russia says that Olga was denied access to Denis because they only give children back to blood relatives or legal guardians. And because she didn’t have the required papers.

10:49:41:07

KATERYNA: Unless we can talk to a child face to face when they feel safe, and no one is standing over them…

We don't know what they are really thinking. They might be in

a state of fear. Or feel they have to say certain things in order to survive.

10:49:55:21

DENIS TIK TOK: Here is my hat with Russian badges. And honestly, I don't give a f*** what they say about me in Ukraine.

10:50:13:00

CARD

Moscow

10:50:22:16

CAPTION

Public Chamber of the Russian Federation

10:50:31:22

COMM

After months of waiting, Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova Belova has finally agreed to give her first interview to a British broadcaster.

She’s facing an international arrest warrant for her part in the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children from their country.

10:50:29:15

10:50:48:04

LVOVA-BELOVA: Perhaps it's better to put it from behind?

CAMERAPERSON: Sure.

LVOVA-BELOVA: Hang it on my belt.

10:50:41:03

CAPTION:

Maria Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights

SHAHIDA: Why do you think the International Criminal Court

issued you with an arrest warrant?

LVOVA-BELOVA: Because children are vulnerable and dear to everyone.

If a child is suffering everybody rushes to help.

It's to demonise the image of Russia. Like they always do.

I haven't received any documents. Nobody has tried to contact me. I haven't seen the charges. There is no official channel. And the order that was issued, it's ridiculous!

Naturally, if we have a child and there's a chance to find their relatives,

we contact the official agencies in Ukraine. We contact volunteer organisations, the International Red Cross. We use these channels to look for people. Should any relatives appear, then we will do all we can to reunite a child with their family.

10:51:07:02

SHAHIDA: My next question...is about the alleged indoctrination of Ukrainian children. Aiming to turn them into Russians. A wilful decision to beat everything Ukrainian out of them. They are told that everything is bad in Ukraine, and so on.

10:52:00:20

LVOVA-BELOVA: Russia is a multinational country. Different nationalities live here together. And in this case, it's not clear to me why Ukraine believes we're trying to somehow eradicate Ukrainian ethnicity.

There's this idea about Russian citizenship. It is mentioned often.

So, what is Russian citizenship? We don't remove any other citizenship,

it doesn't limit the rights of another citizenship.

On the contrary, it offers opportunities. So, all these children can get social benefits in Russia. They can get cash benefits.

They can get help for healthcare, education and social services.

And this gives them equal rights with the other children living here.

10:52:16:23

SHAHIDA: The children I talked to were all saying that they were forced to sing the Russian anthem 3-4 times a day. And they weren't allowed to speak Ukrainian. They were complaining about food as well.

And they were told: "You're never going back."

10:53:11:21

LVOVA-BELOVA: Well, I'm not going to comment on "You're never going back." I know nothing about that.

As for the anthem, they were staying in a Russian holiday camp with its own programme. They weren't in isolation. They were staying together with our children.

The second point, that they weren't allowed to speak Ukrainian. These are facts we are currently checking. When we heard what the children said to the media when they got back to Ukraine, about various violations, we couldn't ignore it, we had to react.

And the investigative agencies are checking these facts reported by the children. Including the allegations they weren't allowed to speak Ukrainian.

10:53:30:13

SHAHIDA: One of the things I’ve been told is that boys who are 18 or 16 will be given Russian citizenship and forced to go to war against Ukraine.

10:54:14:03

LVOVA-BELOVA: At 18 every child has the right to decide. They are no longer children; they are young adults.

They can make a decision whether they want to remain a 

citizen of the Russian Federation. Or refuse our citizenship.

10:54:24:00

COMM

Maria, a mother of five is also an experienced foster parent. Some of the controversy around her was sparked when she took 17 year old Filipp, from Russian-occupied Mariupol, into her own foster care after the city had been flattened by months of Russian shelling.

We spoke with him in the presence of Lvova-Belova’s press officer.

10:54:43:02

CAPTION:

Filip

COMM

FILIPP: My first six months in the family were tough. I was stressed. I was depressed. It was hard. Then it started getting better, step by step,

I started thinking, "I guess this must be my destiny ".

I realised that Masha - Maria, my mother, my beloved mother, she's the person I've been really missing my whole life.

Filipp’s mother died when he was young, and he didn’t know his father well. So, he lived in foster care.  When Filipp was brought to Russia, he was placed in a rehabilitation centre outside Moscow. It was there that he met Maria.

FILIP: After about one month, Maria invited us to go shopping. She dressed me from top to bottom. Presented me with a cologne. So I was really impressed and excited.

And then she asked: "Filipp, would you like to come visit us this weekend?". I was like:" Seriously, for real?" Of course I do!"

I said to myself, "Well, mate. Now you're in big trouble. Really big trouble. Your motherland will never forgive you." It was scary.

The family is big and the head of the family is a priest. That scared me-

I'm not at all religious. We were having some food, chatting, watching Shrek. It was going well, almost great. Then they showed me to my room. It was time to go to bed, but once I was alone in my room, I started crying hysterically.

I've never felt so awful in my life. I was crying my eyes out. But Maria came to calm me down.

SHAHIDA: You were overwhelmed?

FILIPP: I was indeed. So many things had happened to me in such a short space of time. My emotions were swirling around and I burst.

It was a period in my life when I was wondering, "Should I go back?

I can't stand this anymore."

I was thinking I really wanted to, and then I reflected: "Why would I do this?". So, I blocked it out, and I didn't want to know about what was going on there, so I wouldn't get depressed and feel bad.

Better to stay behind this wall..

10:55:12:22

10:55:43:14

.

COMM

Maria Lvova-Belova says she has seen no evidence to support the children’s allegations of mistreatment or poor conditions in the holiday camps.

But Ukrainian officials strongly dispute the claims she made in her interview about Russia's efforts to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children.

10:58:27:00

CAPTION: Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s Commissioner for Human Rights

DMYTRO LUBINETS: I have asked the UN many times to demand from Russia lists of Ukrainian children held there. I can confirm that we have never received a single list of this kind from the Russian Federation neither directly, nor from any third party.

We hope that Ukrainian children will be returned home soon. Unfortunately, it won't happen with any help from the Russian side.

This is the central problem: one country can demonstrate to the rest of the world it can deport children or separate them from their parents.

They can re-educate them, issue them new Russian documents, and often amend their personal information. And no one can do anything about it.

10:58:54:24

No one knows the exact numbers of Ukrainian children who have been removed to Russia.

However, Ukraine claims thousands of children are involved. Lawyers here are working hard to get them back.

11:00:02:03

CAPTION: Kateryna Rashevska, Lawyer

KATERYNA RASHEVSKA: I would feel guilty if one day I meet someone - an adult who used to be one of these children- and they ask me:

'Why didn't you do everything to bring me back?'  

I would be able to answer them: "I tried, but I didn't succeed'.

So, it's a personal mission for me.

11:00:20:14

DIANA: The very bombing they say they were protecting us from was a consequence of their actions.

They forced the Ukrainian Army out of the city, and then pretended to be our saviours. But in reality, it's just nonsense.

OSKANA about Nikita: You can tell that he has changed. He shares some things and hides other things. He doesn't really want to talk about it. He is more closed off, lost in his thoughts. He tends to keep to

himself more often.

DANIL: I would only say one thing,

Don't ever go somewhere if your parents said no. If you were told to stay home, then you stay. Especially if it's a place that you've never been before. Or especially if it's a camp.

11:00:58:23

SHAHIDA: Aren't you afraid to go again?

OLGA: No, I'd risk it. But I need to know why. That's the question that's on my mind.

Why did it happen like that?

11:02:32:01

DIANA: Speaking about children...whom Russia stole, it's very tough for them.

If people think everything is okay for them......it's far from the truth.

They are scared, and they want to go home to their parents.

11:02:45:12

11:03:08:06

CARDS

UKRAINE SAYS THAT BY OCTOBER 2023, 390 CHILDREN HAVE RETURNED HOME.

11:03:15:23

RUSSIA CONFIRMS IT HAS PLACED 380 UKRAINIAN CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE.

11:03:23:25

UKRAINE SAYS MANY MORE ARE MISSING.

11:03:29:19

DENIS IS STILL IN RUSSIAN OCCUPIED TERRITORY.

END CREDITS