Rostislav (left) and Ksenia have been kidnapped from Ukraine through the conflict with Russia.

Estefania Mitre/NPR

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Rostislav (left) and Ksenia have been kidnapped from Ukraine through the conflict with Russia.

Estefania Mitre/NPR

When Rostislav Lavrov did not sing the Russian nationwide anthem, he was punished.

At the age of 16, the boy had been taken from his residence within the Kherson area of Ukraine. The Russian navy informed him he needed to go to summer time camp for 2 weeks of “rest and recreation.” The camp saved him for longer, and it had guidelines.

For not singing alongside, Lavrov mentioned he was saved in a six-foot-square cell for days at a time.

“There’s a small wardrobe. There’s a toilet. You’re not allowed to use the phone. You’re not allowed to go anywhere,” he informed NPR’s Morning Edition via an interpreter.

After almost a 12 months, he made it out of Russian-controlled territory with the assistance of the charity Save Ukraine.

Lavrov, now 18, is one in every of greater than 19,000 minors whom Russia has taken, according to Ukraine’s National Information Bureau. He and different younger Ukrainians testified on Capitol Hill final week, accompanied by Save Ukraine CEO Mykola Kuleba.

Kuleba informed NPR he introduced the tales of kidnapped kids to the U.S. Helsinki Commission to emphasise the necessity for ongoing American help.

“We need everything,” he mentioned. “We need [to] rescue more children. We need [to] provide recovery for these kids, housing, food, health. These kids received traumas. And we have to help.”

According to Kuleba, Save Ukraine has rescued 232 kids. The nongovernmental group counts the United Nations and USAID amongst its funders. It runs rehabilitation centers for youngsters displaced by conflict, offering schooling, housing, and psychological help.

“It’s very expensive, and our child welfare system collapsed because of war,” Kuleba mentioned.

Rostislav was 16 years previous when he was taken to a facility in Kherson, to be reeducated and taught Russian.

Estefania Mitre/NPR

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Rostislav was 16 years previous when he was taken to a facility in Kherson, to be reeducated and taught Russian.

Estefania Mitre/NPR

Nearly two years in the past, when the invasion began, Lavrov’s grandmother died of a coronary heart assault, Lavrov mentioned. Then Russian troopers took his mom to a medical facility, however he was not informed the place it was. Months later, they got here for him.

In Russian-occupied Crimea, authorities tried to erase his previous. They changed his Ukrainian beginning certificates with a Russian one. But he by no means gave up on getting residence. A pal’s mother and the charity Save Ukraine helped him. He made it again to Ukraine one 12 months after he was taken.

Asked what he desires now, Lavrov mentioned, “I would want my mother to come back to Ukraine and be healthy.”

He’s nonetheless ready for information of her.

Ksenia’s story

Ksenia Koldin and her little brother have been dwelling in a foster residence in Vovchans’k, Kharkiv, when Russia invaded. She was 17, in her final 12 months of college earlier than college. In her testimony to Congress, she described hiding in a cellar from the fixed shelling.

In the summer time of 2022, the Russian navy separated Koldin from her brother, who had simply turned 11, and took them to Russia. She was taken to a technical college in Shebekino, a city in Belgorod Oblast. Her brother was taken to a summer time camp. Like Lavrov, the acknowledged purpose was “rest and recreation.”

“It was a scheme of taking Ukrainian kids, under the pretense of taking them to a summer camp while the war is going on,” Koldin informed NPR via an interpreter. “But as it turns out, it was a scheme of kidnapping kids.”

They have been separated by 900 miles, Koldin mentioned, and it will be 9 months earlier than they reunited.

“I must say these were the worst nine months of my life,” she mentioned.

Ksenia was 17 years previous when she was separated from her youthful brother, who was 11 on the time.

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Ksenia was 17 years previous when she was separated from her youthful brother, who was 11 on the time.

Estefania Mitre/NPR

At the college, they tried to make her take Russian citizenship. She refused.

“We were brainwashed into saying that, if Russia wouldn’t have invaded, then Ukraine would have invaded first,” Koldin mentioned. “I would just sit thinking to myself, glory to Ukraine. My country is going to prevail and win. You can say whatever.”

Her brother was positioned with a Russian household, who tried to chop off communication between the siblings. According to Koldin, her brother’s foster mom would inform him that there was no future for Ukraine and that it was run by Nazis. After Koldin was rescued by Save Ukraine, it took her a number of hours to persuade her brother to return to Ukraine together with her.

“I would tell him he’s the only person, really, of my relatives,” she mentioned. “I would not promise him anything about what was going to be in Ukraine. But I would tell him that if we’re going to be together, it would be all right.”

Ksenia Koldin obtained her want. She and her youthful brother reunited and returned to Ukraine.

Ksenia Koldin gave remarks to the U.S. Helsinki Commission on Jan. 31, 2024.

Myong-Hun Oh/Save Ukraine

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Myong-Hun Oh/Save Ukraine

Ksenia Koldin gave remarks to the U.S. Helsinki Commission on Jan. 31, 2024.

Myong-Hun Oh/Save Ukraine

Counting the taken

The Ukrainian officers who gave testimony to the U.S. Helsinki Commission mentioned greater than 19,000 kids have been taken into Russian-controlled territory or into Russia itself. They consider that’s an undercount.

“Until we liberate all Ukraine, until we win this war, we will not know how many of our children, of our civilians, have been abducted or killed,” mentioned Oksana Markarova, ambassador of Ukraine to the United States.

Andriy Kostin, prosecutor normal of Ukraine, gave remarks to the fee through recorded video. He mentioned the displacement of Ukrainian kids dates to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, and he alleged the apply quantities to crimes towards humanity.

“We are talking about the next generation of Ukrainians. We are talking about the fate of each and every child, some being as young as one year old, who will grow up not knowing who they are,” Kostin mentioned.

He pointed to legislation that hastens the method of getting Russian citizenship for orphaned Ukrainian kids. He mentioned Russia takes kids to disclaim their Ukrainian identification.

Anton Loboda interpreted, Reena Advani edited, and Taylor Haney produced the audio story. Majd Al-Waheidi edited the digital story.