Children Returned from Occupied Ukraine Recount Horrors: Murders, Camps, and Psychological Torture.

Children Returned from Occupied Territories

According to TSN.ua: Ukraine is engaged in the ongoing effort to retrieve children who were deported from occupied territories and Russia. The accounts these children give reveal horrific experiences, including the murder of a mother witnessed by 12-year-old Ivan and the psychological pressure endured by 16-year-old Valeria. These stories emerge as part of a broader pattern of alleged war crimes documented since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

The Accounts of Ivan and Valeria

Twelve-year-old Ivan lived in the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region. During one shelling attack, his mother was killed while he was at home. After this tragedy, Ivan became a complete orphan. Volunteers managed to help the boy escape to Ukrainian-controlled territory seven months ago. Ivan and four other orphans now live under the care of a woman named Natalia in a town for displaced persons in the Kyiv region.

Sixteen-year-old Valeria spent a year and a half in a Russian camp, where she was subjected to forced Russification and psychological pressure. She states:

“The Russians are breaking children’s psyches.”

Tragically, the stories of Valeria and Ivan are not unique. Previous reports have included cases of a Ukrainian woman in Russia giving birth after being raped by an occupier and then abandoning the infant. Also, Russian military personnel raped two schoolgirls in occupied Zaporizhzhia.

These harrowing testimonies confirm the scale of child rights violations in the occupied territories, which has caused deep concern within the international community.

The process of returning children who have become victims of war crimes underscores the critical importance of protecting children's rights during conflicts. International organizations and human rights advocates are calling for active measures to ensure the safety and restoration of rights for children affected by the war. These cases also highlight the urgent need for investigations into human rights abuses in the occupied territories and for holding those responsible for these crimes accountable.