Ukrainians are fighting for the right to decide their own future. And yet, part of that future is already in Russian hands. DW'S Max Zander investigated how Russia is allegedly deporting Ukrainian children, and how some parents are getting them back.

Kherson

The Russian economy has been impacted by a raft of global sanctions as world leaders try to pressure Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

Russian Sanctions

Getting Ukrainian children back from Russia

This is Victoria. Her home city of Kherson was occupied by Russian forces for eight months. During that time, her daughter Katya was taken to Crimea. Katya was 12 when the war started. A sensitive and creative little girl. She would draw and write poems and fairy tales. And yet she knew what was going on, her mother tells us. I just wanted for her to have a break from it all. From the military men and their military vehicles. In the evening, you go to bed and you hear Russian military machines passing by. And it was especially scary when they shot at the windows. I thought she would get a rest from all this at the camp. That's the holiday camp she sent Katya to, thinking it would be safe. She accepted an invitation from teachers who were under pressure by occupation authorities to move the children. So what can be done to get back kids who have disappeared into the Russian system? In most cases, there is little hope. There is no system in place and no official cooperation between the Ukrainian and Russian side. Finding the children is the first big challenge. Victoria had to go from Kherson to Crimea. Usually that would take four, maybe five hours of driving. But going directly is no longer a safe option. She had to travel through Ukraine, neighboring Poland, cross into Russia-aligned Belarus and then through enemy territory. About 3,000 kilometers in total each way. Back home, Victoria arrived on this bus with her daughter Katya. They're two of a group who've done the journey together. Katya did not know her mother was coming for her. I was very happy. I have no words to describe it. Victoria and other mothers could only do this with the aid of the NGO Save Ukraine. They help with the logistics, passports, buses and navigating the borders. It's a Russian strategy for children. It's to crucify Ukrainian children. That's why they have no need to beat them and torture them. It is a child. A child's brain is so flexible. If you every day hit their brain with your poison, your propaganda poison, and during one month, two months, this child will say, oh, Russia is maybe not bad. It's their strategy. To date, Save Ukraine has managed to facilitate 96 returns. But they're getting increasingly difficult. Each time Western countries took another step to help Ukraine against Russia, the question arose how to avoid provoking Putin, how to prevent him from doing something even worse than what he already started. For thousands of Ukrainian families, the Russians have already made their worst nightmares come true. They took the kids.

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London

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Paris

Israel-Gaza War

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Climate Crisis

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New York

U.S. Presidential Election

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Council of the City of Sydney

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Jerusalem

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Doha

Ukraine Invasion

Russia and Ukraine to exchange dozens of displaced children

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Geographe

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Kokoda

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Wakeley

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Sderot

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Pyongyang

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Berlin

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Russian Sanctions