Back from captivity: Ukrainian children abducted by Russia share their stories

In a packed room at the Ukrainian Embassy in Rome, a group of children aged 14 to 18, together with their grandparents and other relatives, stood before journalists and media crews.

Some had been living in Russian-controlled areas or occupied parts of the Donetsk region, while others were taken captive by Moscow's forces elsewhere.

Thanks to Bring Kids Back Ukraine, the programme created by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to coordinate efforts to return abducted children, which organised the event, they have been safely repatriated to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Their testimonies expose one of the darkest aspects of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine.

Russian propaganda and indoctrination, along with detention, deportation and in some cases torture, were among the experiences they endured while in captivity.

Their accounts reveal a systematic process of re-education and Russification, aimed at stripping Ukrainian children of their identity.

According to Bring Kids Back Ukraine, these operations are designed either to reshape the demographic makeup of Russian-occupied territories or to turn young Ukrainians into future soldiers.

The scale is staggering. Speaking at Wednesday’s conference, Eleonora Mongelli, vice president of the Italian Federation for Human Rights, confirmed that up to 1.6 million Ukrainian children remain under Russian control.

As of today, Ukraine has brought back around 1,600 children, with each return mediated by a third party — notably Qatar, South Africa and the Vatican.

Ukrainian authorities have verified over 19,500 cases of child abductions since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022.

These are the children for whom detailed information is available; their place of residence in Ukraine and their location in Russia are known. But the actual number is likely to be much higher.

Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab estimates that the number of deported children is closer to 35,000 as of March 19, 2025.

Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova claimed that Russia “accepted” 700,000 Ukrainian children between February 2022 and July 2023.

The experience of 'filtration camps'

“Filtration camps” — a system Moscow uses to control and screen Ukrainians on the temporarily occupied territories — are another harsh reality recalled by most of the returned children and their families who spoke on Wednesday.

These facilities, effectively functioning as checkpoints, have operated since the start of the invasion to interrogate civilians, search their belongings, and assess their “loyalty".

People are forced to pass through them when moving between cities or when crossing from Ukrainian-controlled to Russian-controlled areas.

“They check for tattoos to see if you carry any Ukrainian symbols,” says Yuliia Dvornychenko, who was detained for two years in Russian-occupied territories.

“They also go through your phone to see if you have photos or phone numbers of soldiers - anything connected to Ukraine. In both cases, you’re not allowed through, and that can lead to imprisonment.”

Passing through these camps often results in families being torn apart, with minors separated from their relatives. That is what happened to Liudmyla Siryk and her grandson, Oleksandr, who was now sitting beside her.

After being severely wounded during shelling in Mariupol in 2022, Oleksandr and his family were captured by Russian forces.

During the filtration process, he was separated from his mother. Deported to occupied Donetsk, he was eventually located and brought back to Ukraine by his grandmother.

Veronika, taken to an orphanage in Russia

The story of Veronika Vlasova, who agreed to speak with Euronews, describes what can happen to abducted Ukrainian children.

When the all-out war began in 2022, Russian forces surrounded her village in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. With no evacuation routes available, she and her aunt were forced to flee into Russia.

Vlasova was 13. She spent several months in the country, with authorities blocking her attempts to leave. She was held in a filtration camp where she was required to attend school.

“Russian children bullied me for being Ukrainian,” she told Euronews. “I was forced to tell them I loved Russia, otherwise they would have beaten me.”

She also remembers how local authorities tried to convince her she had no future in Ukraine. “When the police interrogated me, they kept telling me that Ukraine didn’t exist anymore, that Russia was the only option, and that it was better for me to stay.”

The most traumatic moment came when she was separated from her aunt and transferred to an orphanage, where Vlasova spent two weeks in isolation.“It was very hard for me,” she recalled. “I felt lonely and had no one to talk to.”

Now 16, Vlasova lives in Kyiv after being safely returned to Ukraine. Because of what she suffered, she has been diagnosed with several psychological conditions and is currently receiving medical treatment.

'Long-lasting effects of abductions are often untold'

Maksym Maksymov, head of projects at Bring Kids Back Ukraine said the real issue is not only how many children have been brought back but what they experienced and how they cope once they return.

“It’s the same thing they do when they attack Ukraine’s sovereignty and what we believe in,” Maksymov told Euronews.

“The same applies to kids. The Russian Federation wants to make sure that from an early age until they turn 18, children are taught certain ‘truths’ about the world -that everyone is an enemy and nobody can be trusted," he explained.

"That leaves them extremely vulnerable. They don’t know who to trust, and they are very disoriented.”

Despite psychological support being provided, many children continue to suffer long-term effects from captivity.

“One thing psychologists tell us,” said Maksymov, “is that the children become extremely obedient - as if they’ve lost their free will altogether.”

Speaking at the same conference, Iryna Vereshchuk, deputy head of President Zelenskyy’s office, said Ukraine wants the Holy See to act as a formal mediator with Russia to facilitate negotiations over the return of civilians.

A letter from Zelenskyy was delivered to Pope Leo XIV ahead of Friday’s meeting between the pontiff and the delegation of returned children, asking that the initiative already launched by late Pope Francis be formalised.

Under Pope Francis, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi had served as papal envoy for humanitarian issues.

“To be able to achieve more, we need to formalise this process in the Vatican,” Vereshchuk said. “This is why the request now comes officially.”