Ukrainian teens defy Russian oppression in detention camps

Kherson, October 2022. Denys is at school when Russians appear in his classroom and tell the Ukrainian students to pack their things. As reported by Politico, the boy heard from the Russians that they knew where his parents lived. The next day, Denys, along with 300 other children, was taken deep into enemy-occupied territory. Soldiers presented the departure of young Ukrainians as a camp and a "chance to relax on the beautiful Crimean Peninsula for two weeks, a welcome change after eight exhausting months living under occupation."

— We joked around and laughed, but after a while, it wasn’t funny anymore — Denys reported.

The boy ended up in Yevpatoria, a resort on the Black Sea, in an area that Russia illegally annexed in 2014. The strict rules in the camp quickly led the young Ukrainians to rebel, including going outside the camp and heading to the local shop for alcohol, snacks, sausage, or bread. They also refused to sing the Russian anthem during assemblies.

"They were trying to break us"

In November 2022, 16-year-old Vladimir decided to perform a daring act. The Ukrainian hid underwear in his hoodie and went for a walk around the camp. He approached the pole with the Russian flag and took it down. Then, he fastened blue and white underwear and hoisted it onto the high pole. — A story to tell to my kids — Politico quotes Vladimir. The teenager, along with his friend, tore up the Russian flag and then flushed the shreds down the toilet. They recorded everything on their phones.

When Vlad and his friends heard that no one would send them home, they decided to act. And they consciously started breaking the rules.

— They were trying to break us, and we were breaking them in return — Vlad stated.

The boys kept coming up with different ways to show that they did not agree with what was happening in the camp and Ukraine. At some point, the camp they were in was merged with another one, about 70 kilometres away. The rebellion weakened then, but only for a moment. On New Year's Eve 2022, young Ukrainians organised a strike. When Putin's New Year's speech was played, the children played the Ukrainian national anthem and Volodymyr Zelensky's speech over the speakers.

Many people, including Denys, kept looking for a way to escape. However, it was not easy - even if they left the camp, they would end up on a wanted list. Additionally, the Russians rewarded informers, further complicating plans to leave the camp.

What actions did the Russians guarding the Ukrainian children take? In the case of the camp where Denys and Vlad were, the "main source of cruelty" was Valeriy Astakhov. He is a former officer of Berkut, a Ukrainian police unit with a history of brutally treating pro-European protesters on the Maidan in 2014. Astakhov also participated in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children from Donetsk, also in 2014.

"Children who later returned to Ukraine reported that he locked children in basements at Druzhba and beat others with an iron bar at another camp. He cut off a T-shirt bearing a Ukrainian flag from a 15-year-old girl named Taisiya, then filmed her for a propaganda video while she cried. He sent a 12-year-old boy named Mykyta to a mental hospital," Politico reports.

For the stunt with the underwear on the pole, Astakhov punished Vlad by locking him in solitary confinement for six days. When the boy pounded his fists against the walls, the commander threatened him with a psychiatric hospital. The teenager began to consider suicide. After being released, the 16-year-old was separated from his peers and placed in a younger group.

Denys and Vlad escaped from the hands of the Russians in 2023. They owe their escape from the enemy to their families. Before this happened, they were transported to another location - to Kerch Maritime Technical College, a maritime academy about 190 kilometres from Yevpatoria. The Russians offered the boys Russian passports, 100,000 roubles, and apartments in Russia.

Meanwhile, the mother of one of the boys contacted Save Ukraine, a charity that helps in such dire situations. In June 2023, Iryna, Serhiy's mother, set off to get the teenagers. The mentioned organisation arranged documents confirming that the woman was the legal guardian not only of her son but also of Denys and Rostyk. Unfortunately, the plan did not fully succeed - the Russians did not release the last boy, claiming his mother was in a psychiatric hospital in Crimea. Ultimately, Iryna escaped with her son and Denys. Rostyk managed to break away from the Russians a few months later.

Ukraine notes that during the ongoing war, about 20,000 Ukrainian children aged 7 to 18 ended up in similar Russian facilities. Moreover, as reported by Politico, Russia claimed to have "accepted" over 700,000 children who were "rescued from a Nazi-ridden Ukraine."