Ukraine: trauma therapy for returned children

At least 19,546 Ukrainian children were abducted from territories occupied or temporarily occupied by Russia. This constitutes a war crime and prompted the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights. The fate of the vast majority of abducted Ukrainian children remains unknown. However, 1,509 of them were returned to their homeland and their families. They report re-education camps, propaganda, and violence.

The organization "Girls" helps the freed children to process traumatic experiences, to get trust in other people again and to give new courage. Art therapy is an important tool so that the children can express themselves and their feelings. " At our meetings, the children can draw the experience or just talk ," reports Tetiana Khodakivska, who coordinates the project . » Some of the children have never talked about their experiences before, but are ready to draw them. Whatever the communication medium you choose, the golden rule is: we follow the children. If you have any questions, then you can ask them. If you don't want to go on, we stop at any time. "

The cases of 72 children from the Charkiw and Cherson regions are documented, and their certificates are made available to the International Criminal Court as evidence. "We talked to lawyers about how to talk to children so that their statements can be used as legal evidence," explains Tetiana Khodakivska. »These children are witnesses of Russian war crimes: delay, mental torture, sexual abuse, refusal to help medical help in the camps. That's why Russia doesn't let her go. "

Tetiana Khodakivska is not only a project coordinator, but also a film director. Some children and their parents have allowed her to take them and record them in the conversations. The videos are not only made accessible to the International Criminal Court, but also in sections of the public: The title for the documentary, which will be released in 2026, is already certain: "The Blue Sweater with a yellow hole".