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, Olha Tymchenko, the Chief Communications Officer of the “Voices of Children” Charitable Foundation, took part.
We present her speech below.
When I woke up, I heard my mother crying. She was sitting on the sofa, crying uncontrollably. Beside her stood a man with a rifle. My father was at the door, with the Russian soldier's rifle pressed against his back. My younger brother started crying in the bedroom. The Russians forced us to dress quickly and pack our things. They drove us out of our home — a place where we had been so happy — and loaded us into a truck…
These are the memories of a 9-year-old child. And it did not happen to a Ukrainian, but to a Lithuanian, writer Dainora Urbonienė. She wrote about it in her book “Siberia Through the Eyes of a Child”, where she described the horror of her family’s deportation to Siberia in 1941. Aren’t our situations similar?
I’m sure that Lithuanians don’t need an explanation of what it’s like when a Russian soldier comes into your home with a weapon, destroys lives, takes away children and women, and transports them thousands of kilometers away.
Between 1941 and 1952, the Soviet authorities deported 130,000 Lithuanians, mostly women and children, to Siberia.
28,000 deported people died, many of them were children.
Today, the Russians are abducting Ukrainian children. According to official data, they have already deported about 20,000 children. Unofficial estimates are over 744,000. Only 388 children have been returned. Valeria is one of these 388 children.
But how many of them are left there — in camps, in foreign foster homes, where their Ukrainian identity is being erased and they are being raised as future loyal soldiers of the Russian empire?
This is clear to all of us that if Ukraine falls — does not withstand, does not stop the Russian army, then all these hungry and brutal troops will advance further. They consider every country where Russian is spoken as their territory. Because nothing holds them back — human life, humanity, and compassion are unknown concepts to this army.
They come from a background of poverty, crushing debt, and a life lacking even basic amenities. They have nothing to lose. Their sole aim is to prove themselves the strongest. To prove to the whole world that they have won. Even if they celebrate their triumph atop a mountain of corpses, amidst the ashes of their enemies — they will still celebrate.
Those who have encountered the Russian army have no illusions. And the most terrifying is when children fall victim to its brutality.
I work at the "Voices of Children" Charitable Foundation. Since 2019, we have been assisting children affected by the war. Over a hundred of our psychologists in 15 centers across Ukraine help children overcome the trauma of war. Every month, thousands of children receive support from our psychologists. We encounter sorrow day in and day out. Heartbreaking grief as children speak of it.
Occupation. Loss of a mother. Father held in captivity. Home destroyed by missiles. Limbs blown off by an explosion. Violence. A grandmother who still can not tell the child that mother and father are no longer alive. Russians who force people to renounce their country and family on camera.
We hear these stories every day. And there are more and more such stories. Their consequences will last for decades.
Therefore, even now we have to increase the number of specialists — psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers. But our state hardly has many resources for this nowadays, because the economy is working at the front. Often this falls on the shoulders of the public sector. So we urge you to support organizations that work with real children and families. Such as our "Voices of Children" Charitable Foundation and many others.
Not so long ago, in 1991, Russian tanks were here in Vilnius, crushing people under their treads. We know the terror of that experience. But that marked the last triumph of the Soviet Union. The bravery of the Lithuanian people, along with their desire for independence and freedom, brought down the monstrous "colossus on clay feet".
As Ukrainians, we are sure that freedom, dignity, and humanity, as is meant to be — will triumph. Ukraine will win, along with the entire democratic world. But for this to happen, the era of impunity for Russia and its soldiers must end. Each perpetrator must be held accountable for their crimes against civilians, against women and against children.
If you can contribute to holding Russia accountable, please do so. Help establish a tribunal to address Russian crimes. Investigate the crimes witnessed by refugees in Lithuania. Support the aspirations for independence and freedom. Because it is our common goal.
Thank you.
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