We, indeed, are a unique pair. We met when we were ChildAdvocates. Irwin was Ontario’s Provincial Advocate forChildren and Youth (2008-2019). Mykola was Ukraine’sChildren’s Ombudsman (2013-2021). When we met, wesigned a Memorandum of Understanding linking ourrespective Offices, seeking to support and learn from eachother. We have been colleagues ever since. Mykola founded a charitable organization, Save Ukraine, striving to saveUkrainian children from the war and build a community-based, trauma-informed service for children and families, reforming Ukraine’s immense orphanage system. Theorphanage system is the last vestige of the legacy of Sovietrule. Irwin created Save Ukraine-Canada to continue tosupport the effort from Canada.
And then the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, an invasion that, in truth, began over ten years ago, escalated with an all-outattack by Russia in 2022, culminating in the bloody war thatrages today. Save Ukraine pivoted to evacuate children inconflict zones and moved them to safe havens in the country.
It was always clear that Russia was waging a war upon thechildren of Ukraine. In 2014, nearly one million children livedin the Russian-occupied territories of Crimea, Donetsk, andLuhansk. Then, the Russian children’s “ombudsman” statedabout 744,000 registered in Russia after the beginning of thefull-scale invasion.
How many Ukrainian children were deported to Russia intotal remains unknown. What we do know is that an estimated19,500 children were forcibly deported from Ukraine toRussia in the escalation of the war. Russia has claimed thatthey did it as a humanitarian gesture. The fact that Ukrainianchildren apprehended by Russia are often fast-tracked forRussian citizenship and then immediately “adopted out” tellsa different story. As does the fact that Ukraine’s stolenchildren are forbidden to speak their language or acknowledgetheir culture, They are “re-educated“ to believe that Ukrainedoes not want them or convinced that Ukraine does not evenexist. Some are forcibly conscripted into the Russian army.
Russia is attempting to erase the Ukrainians in the childrenthey have taken.
It is horrifically wrong.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant forRussia’s President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissionerfor Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the forciblerelocation of Ukrainian children.
Save Ukraine has joined Ukraine’s President Zelenskyi’s“Bring Kids Back” initiative. Through determined, nimble, dangerous work Save Ukraine has returned 523 children fromRussia and occupied territories and reunited them with family, wrapping service around them to help them heal from thetrauma and rebuild their lives. 119 of them, who are orphans, found support in loving foster families, and none ended up inan orphanage. We know that the trauma children haveexperienced will have lasting consequences, and weunderstand we must begin confronting it with them to preventgenerational trauma in the future.
This week, Canada’s Minister of Global Affairs will hold a conference in Montreal on the return of “prisoners andforcibly detained Ukrainians in Russia”. Much of thediscussion will center on children. The Minister’s counterpartsfrom across the globe will attend to develop plans andapproaches to bringing the children home. Mykola Kulebawill attend as part of Ukraine’s delegation. This internationalcooperation is crucial in our collective mission to protect andreunite these children with their families. We are grateful forCanada’s leadership.
We write this column together because we do not believe thatCanadians fully comprehend the state of the children inUkraine and to let Canadians know that children are casualtiesof the war in Ukraine. We write knowing that in every wartaking place around the globe, children are suffering. Thousands upon thousands of children are. We write knowingeach child is precious.
“In times of war, you plan for peace”, stated one of Mykola’scolleagues in Kyiv. There is no better plan for peace thancentering our efforts on the well-being of our childrentoday. How often have we heard that “children are ourfuture”? In Ukraine, this old maxim resonates so strongly. And we must help them survive in these inhumane conditions.
Yes, we are a unique pair. We both hold Ukraine’s children inour hearts. We ask Canadians to join Ukrainians in doing so aswell.
Mykola Kuleba
Founder Save Ukraine
Irwin Elman
President Save Ukraine-Canada