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12.02.2025
"Why Do You Need Guns? Why Did You Come Here?": The Story of 14-Year-Old Volodia from Kostiantynivka
"Why do you need guns? Why did you come here?" Volodia shouted when he first saw Russian soldiers and collaborators (people who work with an enemy who has taken control of their region) in his hometown of Kostiantynivka.
It happened in 2014 when the boy was only three years old. His mother, Mrs. Viktoriia, was just picking him up from kindergarten. She quickly grabbed her son in her arms and ran away. Sadly, this is just one story among many similar ones.
Volodia is the youngest of three children in his family—he has an older sister and brother. At the time of Russia's full-scale invasion, the family was living in Vysoke, in the Kharkiv region, where they had moved in 2021—except for the eldest son, who was studying in Mariupol.
Eventually, searching for a safe place, Mrs. Viktoriia left for Slovakia with her two younger children. But Volodia missed home terribly and refused to stay, no matter how much they tried to persuade him. So, he and his mother returned to the Kharkiv region, where they reached out to the "Voices of Children" Center—and that's how we first met them.
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Volodia is the youngest of three children in his family—he has an older sister and brother. At the time of Russia's full-scale invasion, the family was living in Vysoke, in the Kharkiv region, where they had moved in 2021—except for the eldest son, who was studying in Mariupol.
Eventually, searching for a safe place, Mrs. Viktoriia left for Slovakia with her two younger children. But Volodia missed home terribly and refused to stay, no matter how much they tried to persuade him. So, he and his mother returned to the Kharkiv region, where they reached out to the "Voices of Children" Center—and that's how we first met them.
You can support our work by donating here.
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