the lost children of war

In the middle of the war, Oleksandra, 87, is preparing to join Russia. Alone, with fear in her stomach. This Ukrainian will find her grandson Dima, a 15-year-old orphan whom she has been raising since birth. On February 24, 2022, the Russian army entered their village near Kharkiv and occupied it, but a week later the Ukrainian army took it over; the Russian soldiers, in their retreat, took Dima and the children from his boarding school.

A long journey to avoid the front line

Like hundreds of other Ukrainian mothers, she will search for Dima in enemy territory to bring him back with her. This is the first time she has left her village and embarked on this long journey: to avoid the front line, which is too dangerous, her journey passes through Poland, Lithuania, then Latvia to finally reach Russia.

Many Ukrainian children are now behind the front line, separated from their families by the war, many of whom lived in the villages around Kharkiv. Yulia’s 16-year-old daughter was also taken to Russia. Ioulia is waiting for her passport to also begin this great journey…

A report by Agnès Vahramian, Pavlo Yurov, Bruno Girodon, Serhiy Shestak and Soufiane Yassine broadcast in “Special Envoy” on February 16, 2023.

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