Kiev: 16 thousand Ukrainian children were forcibly taken by Russian troops

Olena Dudnik is from the town of Izzyum in the Kharkiwi region of Ukraine. Last April, when Russian troops invaded the city, her 17-year-old son Andri was severely injured by the bombing.

Mrs. Dudnik tells about the Voice of America that she took the boy to a Russian field hospital for surgery.

And a doctor said: We'll operate and you can come see him tomorrow. The next day, when I arrived, I was told that my son had been sent to Moscow”, she relates.

Olena says she asked Russian doctors about her son every day.

I was told that they had no information at all. I cried and said, "Please, understand, you have children. Tell me if she's alive or not”, she tells about the Voice of America.

A month and a half later, Mrs. Dudnik received a message on her mobile phone.

There was a photo that had become viral online, a photo of Andriy with the description that this Ukrainian child is in a hospital in Moscow. She also had a hospital address”, she tells about the Voice of America. She went immediately to Moscow.

Ukrainian Commissioner for Children's Rights says that often the only chance parents can take their child from Russia is to go there personally.

This is very dangerous. These parents are not 100% sure they will join their child”, says Daria Gerasymchuk, Ukrainian Commissioner for Children's Rights

According to Ukrainian officials, more than 16 thousand Ukrainian children have forcibly moved to Russia or Ukrainian territories controlled by Russia.

We've got this number of applications for these kids. These applications sometimes come from parents, other relatives, local authorities, or simply from eyewitnesses who have information about the power shift of a child”, says Daria Gerasymchuk, Ukrainian Commissioner for Children's Rights.

Russian authorities do not deny taking children from Ukrainian territories, but do not call it a forced shift. Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said the evacuation has been made to protect children from the danger of military operations.

In spite of that, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of personal responsibility for the expulsion and illegal transfer of children from Ukraine.

Magdalena Gawin, director of the Pilecki Institute, a group funded by the Polish government, partially devoted to studying totalitarian regimes, says the decision is legitimate.

This case is especially important because it is part of crimes against humanity. So there are different degrees, this is a degree of war crimes”, she says.

Olena Dudnik managed to take her son from Moscow, and Ukrainian volunteers helped them find temporary protection. But Ukrainian officials say that so far fewer than 400 children have had the same fate as Andriy, returning to their families. / VOA/