#путин похищает украинских детей

[tomorrowusa]

Mass kidnappings of kids are not unique to the Middle East. Putin's Russia has been doing it since its illegal annexation of Crimea and its de facto occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk in 2014. And it's grown greatly since Russia's invasion of Ukraine started in February of 2022.

This is a form of genocide as defined by international law. Putin and his cronies are war criminals and there is indeed a warrant for his arrest on the basis of his abduction of Ukrainian children from occupied parts of Ukraine.

This invasion has been going on for nearly two years – not just two months. There are thousands of Ukrainian child hostages held by Putin's kleptocratic mafia-terrorist state.

[tomorrowusa]

Bohdan Yermokhin was one of the tens of thousands of Ukrainian kids illegally deported from Russian-occupied Ukraine to Putin's Russia. After Bohdan was told he had to register for conscription in Putin's decrepit army, there was an international outcry.

After much pressure and diplomacy, Bohdan won the right to return to Ukraine. Sadly, most of the Ukrainian kids abducted by Russia are still in Russia.

Bohdan Yermokhin grew up as an orphan in Mariupol, a city in Ukraine's Donetsk region that became the target of a brutal siege in the early weeks of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. As Russian forces took control of the city, Yermokhin became one of more than 20,000 children Ukraine says have been illegally transferred to Russia since the war began. He spent about 1 1/2 years in foster care against his will in Russia before his release was secured on November 19, the day he turned 18, following Ukrainian and international intervention. From his new home in the Ukrainian capital, he spoke this month to Maryana Sych of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service about being sent away from his hometown along with 31 other Ukrainian children. He talks about efforts by Moscow to indoctrinate him, to draft him into the Russian military to fight against his native country, and of his desire to escape Russia.

When Bohdan returned to Ukraine he could not go back to his hometown of Mariupol. It's still under Russian occupation after Putin's forces destroyed most of the city.

RFE/RL's Maryana Sych spoke with Bohdan Yermokhin after he arrived in Kyiv. Part of their conversation took place at a square where Ukraine displays wrecked Russian war machines.

Мар'яна Сич: Богдане, зараз ми в центрі Києва. Чи був ти тут раніше? Maryana Sych: Bohdan, now we are in the center of Kyiv. Have you been here before? Богдан Єрмохін: Ні, я не був тут ніколи. Але тут дуже красиво, по-своєму. Bohdan Yermokhin: No, I have never been here. But here it is very beautiful, in its own way. Мар'яна Сич: Навколо нас ти бачиш зруйновану російську техніку. Ти на неї дивився, що ти відчуваєш, які думки? Maryana Sych: All around us you see destroyed Russian equipment on display. What do you feel, what are your thoughts, when you look at it? Богдан Єрмохін: Я відчуваю тепло на душі, відчуваю, що ми переможемо скоро, що духом не здаємося і сильніші за всіх, хто може бути. Bohdan Yermokhin: I feel warmth in my soul. I feel that we will win soon, that our spirit is not broken, and that we are stronger than anyone can be.

Maryana and Bohdan talking near wrecked Russian armored vehicles on display in Kyiv.

[tomorrowusa]

See the video at @visegrad24.

A small group of Ukrainian kids kidnapped by Russian invaders were returned to Ukraine. One of them told of his dreadful experiences while in Russia.

Putin was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) specifically for his forced deportations of Ukrainians. Putin’s goal was, and still is, to destroy the national identity of Ukraine. That is what genocide is all about.

The investigation continues of war crimes committed by Putin and his poor excuse for an army.

Ukraine's abducted children: 'List of suspects will grow'

Ukraine: NGOs help prosecutors document Russian war crimes

There are still roughly 16,000 kidnapped Ukrainian children being held by Russia. Remember them when you hear Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, certain GOP presidential candidates, and assorted tankies making excuses for Putin’s Russia.