When Russian troops started building up at the border, Snizhana expected something to happen. Her husband and the father of her children promised the family they’d leave Mariupol on the 23rd of February 2022, but due to transportation issues, they were unable to. Snizhana and her two children, Sasha and Viktoria, were stuck in Mariupol.
A day later, Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine started. Mariupol was pounded by constant shelling. Snizhana called her mother, Liudmyla, telling her: “Horrible things are happening here”. This was the last time Liudmyla spoke to her daughter.
Mariupol, 24 March 2022
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, nearly half a million people lived in Mariupol. The city in south-eastern Ukraine was known for both its culture and industry.
During the siege, Russian forces targeted essential services, such as electricity, water, gas and communication networks. The latter collapsed in the early days, leaving a void of information and making it almost impossible for people to reach their loved ones.
Because of constant shelling, food and water became scarce, forcing residents to leave their shelters to get food and melt snow for water. On 24 March, Snizhana’s family were forced to cook outside on an open fire in the freezing cold.
While her 11-year-old son, Sasha, was outside helping with the preparation of food, heavy shelling began. Sasha quickly rushed to seek shelter behind garages and oak trees.
A little later, he eventually sought refuge on the second floor of a neighbour's house. He thought his two-year-old sister, Viktoria, was there by herself, but when he got there, he found her sheltering with his mother, Snizhana.
While the three of them were hiding, a shell hit the neighbouring house, causing a shard to injure the 11-year-old under his right eye.
Despite shelling and constant attacks, Snizhana ended up taking her son to a factory to seek medical assistance for his injury. Sasha remembers that upon getting there, heavy shelling made it impossible for them to leave.
Officials told Sasha his mother "didn't want him anymore"
Sasha remembered Russian forces surrounding the plant, capturing them and driving them somewhere. “My mother, another civilian and I were taken to a village called Bezimenne in occupied Donetsk,” he recalled.
In Bezimenne, Child Rights Services from Novoazovsk came and separated him from his mother.
“They didn’t let me say goodbye to her”, he said, adding he believes they took her to a filtration camp. That was the last time he saw her.
Officials told him his mother didn’t want him any more, but the 11-year-old believed it to be a lie – he loves and adores his Mamulichka.
“The tactic of separating Ukrainian children from their families is a known strategy”
According to Vladyslav Havrylov, Research Fellow with the Collaborative on Global Children's Issues at Georgetown University, the tactic of separating Ukrainian children from their families and indoctrinating them with anti-Ukrainian propaganda is a known strategy employed by the Russian government.
“This serves multiple purposes, including erasing Ukrainian identity, addressing demographic issues in Russia through illegal adoption, and preparing a future generation supportive of Russian military aggression,” he explained.
The forceful deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children also seem to serve the purpose of "stocking up" the Russian army.
“The Youth Army, established by the Kremlin, plays a significant role in this process, indoctrinating children as young as six with anti-Western sentiments and glorifying Russian military actions, including the war in Ukraine”, added Havrylov.
Theo organisation recruits thousands of children, particularly from occupied Ukrainian territories, to serve Moscow's agenda of cultural assimilation and political loyalty to the Kremlin.
The “ghetto” in Bezimenne
The filtration camp he believes his mother was taken to in Bezimenne, 30 kilometres east of Mariupol, has been named the “ghetto”. Once a school by the shores of the Sea of Azov, it now holds people captive.
According to the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland, RND, this facility is one of several established in Ukraine since the start of the war.
The BBC reported that Russia was housing an estimated 5,000 at the temporary camp in Bezimenne in March 2022, and a video verified by the Washington Post confirmed the existence of the "ghetto".
In these camps, Russians “screened” Ukrainians from Russian-occupied territories “for their status and allegiance”.
There, their passports, phones and documents were confiscated, and medical care was non-existent.
Reports suggest the camps endure inhumane conditions, and detainees reportedly face threats of torture or death. There have also been reports of extrajudicial killings at these filtration camps.
Symbolically, the village's name bears a resemblance to the Ukrainian translation for "no name" (без імені/bez imeni).
Sasha is brought to a hospital without his mother
Still injured, the Child Rights Service from Novoazovsk brought Sasha to a trauma hospital called Donetsʹka Oblasna Klinichna Travmatolohichna Likarnya in illegally occupied Donetsk, where he finally received treatment.
Of course, the 11-year-old didn’t have any documents on him. The authorities in the hospital were, therefore, unable to identify him.
Sasha, already terrified, was informed that he would be sent to an “Internat”, presumably in Russia, where children without parents are usually sent to go to school and live. This institution can be likened to an orphanage rather than the Western perception of a boarding school.
Findings from the Ukrainian project “Where Are Our People” reveal that deported Ukrainian children are often housed in repurposed facilities like summer camps, dormitories, orphanages, and Russian Orthodox Church monasteries.
19 April: Sasha calls Liudmyla
Two months after the full-scale invasion, a man approached Liudmyla at work, telling her Sasha was looking for her. On 19 April, she heard her grandson’s voice on the phone.
Despite an unstable connection, she managed to call him via video call. He said he was in a hospital in occupied Donetsk and then told her the story of how he got separated from his mother.
“I don’t know where she is. We couldn’t get out of the factory. They surrounded it and started shooting,” he remembered.
“Sasha, I’ve been looking everywhere for you”, Liudmyla told him. Liudmyla was relieved and happy that her grandson got in contact with her, but it brought up many more questions about his mother's whereabouts.
In the clinic, he got to know another boy who was also 11 years old. It was the boy’s phone he initially used to call his grandmother.
After Sasha’s call, Liudmyla managed to get in touch with a social worker working at the clinic. She pleaded with her to look after Sasha and do everything, so he wouldn’t be deported to an Internat. “I’m his Babusya. I will come and collect him”, she said.
Liudmyla makes it her mission to get Sasha back
Liudmyla needed adequate documents to pick Sasha up. Since Sasha’s father was a soldier, picking up his son wasn’t an option. Therefore, Liudmyla had to become his guardian. It took her two months to gather the documents, such as his birth certificate, and get them translated into Russian.
Before leaving, friends and relatives asked her if she was afraid to travel to the occupied territories. “What other options do I have to get him back?” Liudmyla would have travelled anywhere in the world to get her grandson back.
Liudmyla embarks on her journey to occupied Donetsk
Throughout the two months when Liudmyla prepared for her journey, Sasha managed to stay in the hospital. He was worried, though, and believed that he would be taken somewhere in Russia.
He also questioned how his grandma was able to come to pick him up in an active war zone. In temporary-occupied Donetsk, there was constant shelling, he remembered. He was terrified and forced to go to bomb shelters frequently.
To reach her grandson, Liudmyla embarked on a journey spanning four countries: Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Russia. Ukrainian citizens can travel to Belarus via the Polish border and continue to Russia.
Ukrainian nationals are only permitted to enter the Russian Federation via a land border in Latvia or the Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow.