Disappearing children: how the occupiers are changing the identity of Ukrainian children in boarding schools
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“If a child is placed in an orphanage in the occupied territory or in Russia, it is almost impossible to return him or her. They disappear,” said Daria Kasyanova, head of the board of the Ukrainian Child Rights Network, in an interview with The Guardian.
And how can children end up in an orphanage, even if they have parents? Sometimes one of the parents stays in the government-controlled territory, while the other remains in the occupied territory with the child. If this adult is arrested or dies, the child is left alone. He or she is removed and transferred to an institution. And then the connection with the family, with Ukraine, is cut off. The chance of returning such a child is minimal.
In institutions, a child’s name, surname, and sometimes even date or year of birth can be changed to make it harder to find them. But the impact on the child is not limited to this. In Russia and the occupied territories, a new identity is systematically imposed on Ukrainian children: they are forbidden to speak Ukrainian, forced to sing the Russian national anthem, draw the tricolor, and accept someone else’s history as their own.
The Ukrainian Child Rights Network has been helping to return children from occupation and deportation since 2022. Our case managers, psychologists and return specialists work with children and families at all stages – before, during and after return.
In a conversation with The Guardian, Daria Kasyanova comments on these processes and explains why the return of children is not only about humanitarian aid, but also about protecting the right to identity.