Daina, Yana und Nikita

Diana, 14, Yana, 11, and Nikita, 10, were among the children who ended up in a camp in Crimea. Early in February, Nikita had an altercation with some older boys who were pro-Russian and assisting collaborators in the camp. This incident led to Nikita being transferred to a hospital to ensure he would be more subdued and compliant, in line with their enforced rules.

„The nurses entered the room, handed me a small plastic cup with a pill and some water, and instructed me to take it,“ Nikita remembers. The medication, likely Valium, a tranquilizer, made him drowsy. He also received injections. Nikita spent a month in this form of psychiatric detention. Two other kids from the camp, also undergoing re-education, were made to take similar pills inducing sleepiness.

As the conflict placed parents and children on different sides of the front lines, the Russians wouldn’t promise the return of the children, suggesting they might be moved to Skadovsk or Henichesk, or alternatively, the parents could attempt to retrieve them on their own.

The family is now in Kyiv, reunited with their children after a six-month separation. During this period, Olga and Denis, the parents, were regularly informed about the conditions of their children in the camp, including that Nikita was being medicated.

Eventually, the parents contacted Save Ukraine. The charity’s volunteers located the child, assisted with the necessary paperwork, and arranged for a family friend to escort the Zaporozhchenko children to Kyiv.

On April 11, 2023, a shell struck their house while the family was at the market, destroying their home. The Zaporozhchenko are now residing in Save Ukraine’s Center of Hope and Healing in Kyiv, trying to heal from the traumatic experiences they have endured.