‘The Russians deliberately took Ukrainian children out in groups’

The “Child Tracing Service” has been working in Ukraine for more than 20 years, helping to search for and ensure the safety of every missing child. It was founded on the initiative of concerned journalists who united around the idea of ​​​​using media resources — it was only television at that time — to show citizens exactly how a child disappeared, his photograph, which significantly increases the chances of finding them.

In 2001, the “Magnolia” public organization was officially registered, and soon, we began to use various resources to help find missing children as quickly as possible. Twenty years ago, if parents contacted us, they wrote letters by hand and included a photo of the missing child. We had a special person who came to the Kyiv Central Station daily to pick up letters from parents handed over by train conductors.

Now, the picture is entirely different. To urgently report a missing child, just call the hotline 116 000, accessible from any mobile phone from any corner of Ukraine. We have also developed chatbots.

How did the war affect the work of the “Children Tracing Service”?

Unfortunately, no one was prepared for what happened on 24 February 2022. There were two missile strikes near our office, so even communications on our hotline were disrupted. But we all understood that we had to keep in touch and urgently do something so that people could turn to us because over 20 years, the words “Child Tracing Service” became so well known that people counted on our help when their children went missing.

At the beginning of the invasion, alternative channels were created to allow people to contact us. These are telegram bots, a Facebook page, and chatbots on our website, “Children Tracing Service”. Earlier this year, we received about 300 requests from parents of missing children. When we connected these electronic hotlines, we received hundreds of calls daily.

However, these were completely different circumstances of the children’s disappearance, and they were all terrible. Families disappeared — parents and children hid in basements, especially in those settlements that quickly came under occupation. There was no access to mobile communications, and no one knew what was happening or who survived.

We also began to receive reports of children getting lost during the evacuation process, which was not appropriately organized then. Everyone tried to escape as best they could. In some cases, to save their children, parents gave them not even to their relatives but, for example, to neighbors. Some instances were terrible when, due to shelling or occupation, parents were killed, and children were taken away.

How many requests have been recorded to date?

From the beginning of the full-scale invasion to the present day, our “Children Tracing Service” has already received more than 3,150 requests from parents and relatives looking for their children. It is a great joy and happiness for us that most children have been found. Most of the children are alive and reunited with their families. Unfortunately, the circumstances of their disappearance were terrible; not all parents survived, but there were other relatives — aunts, uncles, grandmothers, and grandfathers, whom we helped establish the fate of these children and reunite with them.

The most challenging situation in the search for missing children is those children who disappeared in the occupied territories. For the first time, we learned about the possibility of children being deported, kidnapped, taken away from their parents, and moved somewhere. It was happening!

When the Kyiv region was liberated, we already had testimonies about the search for children who had disappeared, for example, in Bucha, Irpin, and Hostomel. I think the whole of Ukraine and the whole world know what happened to the people who remained there under occupation. A lot of civilians were killed, but after the liberation, when criminologists went there when the Ukrainian police gained access to these places, it turned out that children weren’t there.

Fortunately, there were no bodies of the missing children, but there were no children themselves. There were statements that the children were there at the time of the occupation. Therefore, continuing our search for the first time, probably in April-May 2022, we learned that children could be purposefully taken away. At that moment, it was impossible to imagine that anyone would think of taking children from their parents or their relatives and moving them to the territory of the aggressor state. The further the Ukrainian occupied territories were liberated, the more it became clear that these were not isolated cases.

And it is not, as Russian propaganda says, that this was done to save children. No, that’s not how it happened. If we looked at such occupied cities as Mariupol or Kherson, children were taken out in groups. Purposefully.

We have facts confirming that more than 600 Ukrainian children were deported to the territory of the Russian Federation or also forcibly moved to occupied territories such as the “DPR”, “LPR”, and Crimea. To date, Ukraine has managed to return 388 children who were forcibly deported to the Russian Federation. Separately, I would like to add that we, as the Ukrainian public organization “Magnolia”, are greatly helped by such initiatives as OSINT communities in cases where children have disappeared in occupied territory and may have been deported. A wide range of tools are used, for example, facial recognition from photographs — if a picture of a group of Ukrainian children is published in Russian public pages or media, and our missing child appears in this photograph. Geolocation analysis is also conducted, giving clues as to where the child was taken. Sometimes, the photo may even contain the name of an educational institution or institution, such as a boarding school in the Russian Federation, where such children may be.

Ukraine is the first country to adopt and use OSINT technologies to search for missing children, showing high efficiency. At the moment, we have received information about 233 children who are currently wanted in Ukraine. The National Police of Ukraine officially wants them, and we already have factual confirmation that these children are now in the Russian Federation. You can even track their specific travel routes and those responsible for such actions.

In some cases, we can say this is an absolute violation of international law. Unfortunately, some children were given up for adoption in the Russian Federation and placed with Russian families. Also, their first and last names were changed to complicate finding and returning these children. In connection with the challenges that we have faced since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the public organization “Magnolia” also received an important function and mission — advocating for the protection of the rights of Ukrainian children at the international level.

Are there any missing Ukrainian children in the European Union?

In the first few months of the full-scale invasion, the State Border Service of Ukraine, as well as the border services of other countries, agreed on a simplified border crossing regime.

Everyone understood the horror of the situation, the threat to life and health. Therefore, children were released even without the accompaniment of their parents, without a power of attorney, and sometimes with strangers.

It could have been neighbors or witnesses on the street when they saw that the house was destroyed and a child was left alone on the street without parents, and they simply tried to save these children and took them with them. So yes, there are missing children. They were in Europe and still are there.

I would like to note that the first months were challenging, as the Ukrainian police were overloaded. In addition, there were constant hacker attacks on all databases, including Ukrainian government ones, the database containing information about the search for children. In this case, the Missing Children Europe Federation and public organizations from European countries lent us a shoulder. In some cases, we received assistance from police in other countries during these early months. For example, the Slovak police took on an auxiliary function and contacted Interpol to place advertisements about a missing Ukrainian child.

The situation is somewhat different now since more than two years have passed since the start of the full-scale invasion. There are still cases where Ukrainian children disappear in Europe, but now these children have already been living in the countries of the European Union for some time. Usually, they already go to school there. If they moved independently rather than with their parents, they typically lived with guardians assigned to them by the governments of those countries. The more time passed, the more Ukrainian children may experience misunderstanding and alienation in other countries. The child is left alone with the feeling that there is a war in their country, but no one understands them here. Unfortunately, now I am also becoming aware of cases of bullying in European schools explicitly aimed at Ukrainian children.

Sometimes, peers can sound air raid signals on their mobile phones during recess, and they see how Ukrainian children react to this. It scares them. In this case, the child does not understand who to turn to, feels left alone with the problem, and sees the only way out is to escape.

For our part in Ukraine, we are also trying to do everything possible to find Ukrainian children abroad. We act as a link between our country and the country where the child disappeared. For example, a child disappeared in Spain. Parents in a state of shock find it difficult to pull themselves together and understand what steps must be taken, how to contact the police properly, what documents are needed, and so on. And if you live in Spain, you may not even know the language to apply.

Our function is to attract a public organization in Spain similar to ours so that it can accompany applicants — parents or relatives. Help them contact the police correctly, collect documents, and explain the situation. Also, those public organizations distribute announcements about missing children with photographs and descriptions of the situation. And we, for our part, act as a link between the police, say, Spain or another country, and the police of Ukraine to coordinate joint actions and help find the missing child as quickly as possible.

It is essential to understand that we have clear borders — Ukraine and other countries. However, when a child disappears in the EU countries, he can disappear in Spain and end up in Belgium because there are no clear borders in the EU. Also, our function is to ensure that even if a child goes missing, for example, in Poland, we involve all the other 32 member countries of the Missing Children Europe Federation to find this child.

How can people in Spain see the ads?

Today, we are broadcasted by more than 20 TV channels in Ukraine. Still, besides this, a very powerful and important tool is the distribution of advertisements via the Internet since it has no boundaries. The support of bloggers and influencers who distribute announcements about missing children is vital to us. That is why Ukrainians can see these advertisements from every corner of the world and every European country. Our hotline, 116 000, is available throughout Ukraine (calls are free for subscribers of all mobile operators). In addition, it is worth noting that this is a single European number — the Hotline for Missing Children. Therefore, in any European country, by calling 116 000, a person will definitely receive support and assistance from the public organization of the country in which this person is located.

Telegram bot “Children’s Tracing Services”

Website “Children’s Tracing Service”

If you need to contact the Child Tracing Service, write to missingchildren@magnolia.org.ua.