POST
PRODUCTION
SCRIPT
Renegade
Stories/ITV
17
October 2023
Ukraine’s
Stolen Children
1
hour 3 mins 29 secs
Pretitle, Sound |
ALLA:
It deeply affected me mentally I |
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 1st. 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: |
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 |
|
|
[1] https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-ukraine-icc-judges-issue-arrest-warrants-against-vladimir-vladimirovich-putin-and