How can Canada help Ukrainian children reportedly abducted by Russia?

OTTAWA — Vladyslav Rudenko, 17, just wants to be a professional soccer player. But for the week the Ukrainian boy says he spent in what he called a "punishment cell" in a Russian camp without any communication to the outside world, he wasn't sure he'd ever make it out to try. "When you're in Russia in the occupied territory, you have no rights.

You can't do what you want. You can't do the right thing. You cannot admit you're Ukrainian. You cannot say you love Ukraine," Rudenko said. Thousands of Ukrainian children have reportedly been forcibly transferred to Russia, Belarus and occupied Ukrainian territory in a campaign that began in 2014 but has ramped up since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

There, the children lose contact with the outside world, are allegedly abused, subjected to indoctrination and military training in re education camps, or adopted into Russian families without their consent. "For now, we really understand that about two or three hundred thousand Ukrainian children have been kidnapped by Russians," Daria Herasymchuk, the Ukrainian commissioner for children's rights, told the Star via a translator in an exclusive interview.

"But actually, if we talk about official numbers that we have, it's about 20,000." Stories like these have Canadian officials eager to help return the children to Ukraine. But that goal is complicated by difficulties in tracking the number and whereabouts of the children, insufficient international co ordination and Russian President Vladimir Putin's refusal to co operate , those familiar with the issue say.

Russia claims it has brought Ukrainian children into its territory to provide them safety and shelter during the war. In a statement to the Star on Friday, the Russian Embassy in Ottawa said its actions have complied with international law, and called the criticism "another element of the anti Russian information war." In November, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly called the situation "one of the most appalling crimes" Russia has committed against Ukrainians.

She said she was working with allies to help facilitate the safe return of the children, but further details of Ottawa's plans have yet to be revealed. Global Affairs Canada did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. Rudenko and a handful of other children among the nearly 400 that have been rescued so far appeared virtually before a House of Commons subcommittee in November, sharing emotional testimony about their hardships with members of Parliament, who were studying the issue .

Anastasiia Motychak, 16, recalled living under intense fear of Russian shelling when her family was reluctantly convinced by authorities to send her to a safe "holiday camp" in Crimea. "When we came to the camp, there were cockroaches everywhere, in our closets and in the canteen. We had to sleep on dirty, smelly sheets and pillows," she said.

"We were forced to learn and sing the Russian national anthem each week at a certain time. If we refused, we were admonished for it, and we were told that we were ungrateful." The subcommittee also heard from parents, Ukrainian officials and non governmental organizations, who emphasized the challenges in recovering the children and called for Canada to step up its support.

Yevhen Mezhevoi, 40, described being coerced into giving up his children for their safety as they attempted to escape their war torn city. "Then, I was interrogated and I was taken to various detention places," he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed Canada's leading role in the "creation of an international coalition to facilitate the return of children," in conversations with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

But experts who spoke to the Star said Canada can play a much bigger role by following through on the recommendations that were made to MPs. "There needs to be a country that owns the portfolio," Nathaniel Raymond, a researcher at Yale University who advised MPs on the issue, told the Star.

"Canada is desperately needed." To start, MPs were told, Ottawa should make it a priority for Global Affairs Canada to spearhead international efforts. Fen Hampson, an international affairs professor at Carleton University and the president of the World Refugee and Migration Council, said that could include creating a special envoy to focus Canada's diplomatic efforts on international pressure to stop the forced transfers, especially among countries in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe that have only quietly expressed their disapproval.

"The biggest challenge is Mr. Putin himself, and dealing with an authoritarian regime that seems to be impervious to political pressure," Hampson said. Canada has sanctioned 72 individuals and 29 entities since May 2023 in relation to human rights violations including the transfer and custody of Ukrainian children in Russia.

While it remains unclear just how big of a role Canada can or will play in facilitating the return of the children and ending this practice, calls for speedy action on the issue are intensifying. The implications, Raymond told MPs, go far beyond recovering Ukrainian children. “That's what’s at stake here.

It’s not just Ukraine’s kids. It’s all kids in war," he said..