Author:
Mariia Kucova
On April 29, the Ukrainian delegation spoke before the Seimas of Lithuania as part of the event “Echoes of Tragedy: Testimonies on Russia’s War in Ukraine”. In particular, 17-year-old Valeriia, who had come back after being deported by Russia, took part.
We present her speech below.
Hello. My name is Valeriia, and I am 17 years old. I come from Nova Kakhovka, a city on the left bank of the Kherson region. Since 2019, I have been living with my grandmother because my mother passed away. Dance and aerial gymnastics were my hobbies, and I enjoyed walking around my town. I was a typical teenager.
On the morning of February 24, 2022, we awoke to the sight of columns of military vehicles marked with the letter Z — tanks, armored carriers, and trucks filled with armed soldiers — lining the streets of our city. At that time, we didn’t realize that this was a Russian invasion, the war.
By noon, the Russian tricolor flag had been hoisted over the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station. Realizing we were now under hostile military occupation, I was so stressed that I began to experience a persistent ringing in my ears that lasted a month.
Soon after, the shelling and explosions began. It was absolutely terrifying.
My school, which I attended, refused to collaborate with the military occupiers. Without our consent, my records were transferred to another school — one that had agreed to work with the aggressor and later organized the deportation of children. My documents were never returned. I still don't know where they are. They were just stolen.
As the situation intensified and Ukrainian forces drew nearer, the occupiers announced a so-called "evacuation".
The school principal, who actively cooperated with the Russian military occupiers, announced that the children will be taken to Yevpatoriia for a two-week vacation. The administration had a list of all the children. She said, "If you don’t go now with your classmates, you will go another day with children from a different city. So you’ll have to go either way". The departure was set for 10 a.m. the following day.
Thus, on October 8, 2022, more than 500 children gathered in the main square of the city. We were loaded into 14 buses and taken toward Crimea. Each bus was monitored by an armed Russian soldier, and we were escorted by their military police.
At the “Luchistyi” camp in Yevpatoriia, our daily schedule was as follows: in the morning Russian national anthem, then school, where Russian teachers told us a "pseudo-history". They twisted the facts, claiming that Kievan* Rus' was baptized near Sevastopol, that the Chernobyl disaster was an artificially inflated issue, that there was no Holodomor — Famine in Ukraine, and that Russia is the greatest nation for having defeated Napoleon. There we were not provided with the opportunity to study Ukrainian; instead, we were taught Russian, which was referred as a "native language".
We were perceived as if we were real children of the Russian Federation. They completely erased the fact that we are Ukrainians, citizens of Ukraine, and have always lived in Ukraine, although now in its militarily occupied regions.
People regularly approached us to promote enrollment in Russian universities; these individuals were not local and highlighted that many kids from the Kherson region had already enrolled. They promised that if we persuaded our parents to relocate to Russia, we would be granted an apartment, regular financial support, and free education. However, obtaining a Russian passport was a mandatory condition for all of the aforementioned. By the way, it was impossible to receive medical treatment in the military occupation without this passport.
I personally witnessed how the military occupiers repeatedly banned the usage of Ukrainian language in our daily life. In the camp, children didn't even attempt to speak Ukrainian to avoid problems with the teachers. One teacher was even expelled from university for playing Okean Elzy's "When the War Ends" [a song in Ukrainian] on his guitar.
What horrified me the most was observing the young children — aged 5–6. They were neglected, dirty, and as it grew colder they frequently fell ill. They suffered from bronchitis and pediculosis — head lice infestation. There were almost no medications available in the camp. Nobody seemed to care about the children's health; only their lesson attendance counted. Missing even a single lesson was not allowed, as punishments would follow.
I stayed in the camp for two months. My guardian was allowed to take me back provided that we would return to the militarily occupied territory.
Is this the norm? This cyclicality where a foreign soldier takes over your home and forcibly relocates you?
How is it, that armed individuals can enter my country and prohibit me from speaking my native language, following Ukrainian news, or attending my native Ukrainian school even online? That Russian soldiers now occupying my house, taking children to a camp for "two weeks", and leaving them there, just like that? They simply take children away from their parents, robbing these young lives of the future they had dreamed of.
How is it, that armed individuals can enter my country and prohibit me from speaking my native language, following Ukrainian news, or attending my native Ukrainian school even online? That Russian soldiers now occupying my house, taking children to a camp for "two weeks", and leaving them there, just like that? They simply take children away from their parents, robbing these young lives of the future they had dreamed of.
Sure, I took a risk and came back to Ukraine because I saw no future in the occupier's country. But how many children have not been able to return?
I drove alone with a random carrier all day. Via Mariupol, Rostov, Belgorod. Then for two hours I walked with my bags through the mined field, which was the only humanitarian corridor. When I got there and saw the Ukrainian soldier, I burst into tears.
And now I find myself here, looking and feeling older than my age, not because of life's joys or the wisdom gained from books. But because the Russians stole 1.5 years of my childhood. I had to grow up too fast. Instead of "liberation", Russia inflicted chronic stress disorder on me.
I would like every child to be able to reclaim their home. I want those homes to be safe. I want every crime witnessed by children to be thoroughly investigated. I want Russia to be finally held accountable for each of these crimes.
Thank you.
Share: