News
18.01.2024
Victor Pinchuk Foundation hosts discussion “War Crimes, Genocide and Deportation of Children” on the occasion of WEF 2024
On 18 Jan 2024, Victor Pinchuk Foundation held in Davos (Switzerland) the discussion “War Crimes, Genocide and Deportation of Children”. The event was held as part of the Decide Your Tomorrow project, organized by Victor Pinchuk Foundation and PinchukArtCentre in cooperation with the Office of the President of Ukraine. It offers a chance to revisit what is at stake in Ukraine. Global political leaders, thinkers and activists discuss key aspects of Ukrainians’ defense of life and freedom.
Among the participants of the discussion were Oleksandr Korniyenko, the First Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian parliament; Yevhen Mezhevyy, father of three children deported from Mariupol City and Oleksandra Mezheva, an 8-year old child deported from Mariupol City; Hlib Stryzhko, Defender of Mariupol, Head of Veteran Hub in Kyiv; Galyna Mykhailiuk, Representative of the President of Ukraine in parliament, MP; Mykola Kuleba, the head of the “Save Ukraine” project. The panel was moderated by Janine di Giovanni, CEO and Executive Director of the Reckoning Project: Ukraine Testifies.
Opening the discussion, Janine di Giovanni said: “War is so much more than missiles, F-16 and the front line. There’s more to it than a military component of the battle. War is about destroying the fabric of society. And family is at the heart of society. Mr Putin is trying to destroy Ukraine by stealing the children.”
“This is also about justice. If Putin is allowed to win, he will not stop at Ukraine, he will never stop. He cannot get away with this, we have to set a precedent and show that these kinds of crimes will not be left without accountability,” Janine di Giovanni added.
Galyna Mykhailiuk shared figures that highlighted Russia’s illegal deportation of children from Ukraine: “We have already registered over 123,000 Russian war crimes and crimes of aggression. Unfortunately, according to the estimates of the Ombudsman’s Office, over 700,000 children were deported from the territory of Ukraine. Only 1,956 cases were officially registered.”
She added that as of 17 Jan 2024 a total of 517 children were taken back to Ukraine. “If we do our best to get every single child back to Ukraine on a daily basis, it’ll take us 55 years to get all of them back,” Galyna Mykhailiuk noted.
“It’s highly important for us to have mediators in the negotiations with Russia to bring Ukrainian children back. Everyone can volunteer and help to increase the number of Ukrainian children being brought home,” she added.
Oleksandr Korniyenko said: “Even the deportation of one Ukrainian child is a genocide. Yet we are sadly talking about the deportation of thousands of children.”
He also touched upon the importance of holding Russia accountable for the crimes committed in Ukraine: “If we don’t establish the right mechanism to hold Russia to account for war crimes, this will open a Pandora’ Box to all authoritarians all over the world.”
Mykola Kuleba said: “This is the war against Ukrainian women and children; to erase the Ukrainian identity, by killing the population and totally destroying our country. Putin clearly understands this and has built this strategy to forcibly deport these children, to brainwash them, and to ‘convert’ them to Russians.”
Hlib Stryzhko shared his experience of surviving a Russian POW camp with a serious battlefield injury: “The first thing they did at the filtration camp was stripped me of my belongings including clothing, documentation and military ticket. Afterwards, we were taken to a hospital and I hoped that I would receive some kind of medical treatment there. Instead, a Russian soldier came up to me and tore off the support holding my pelvis bone in place.”
“They wanted to break our spirit. Our bodies were broken already. We couldn’t feel worse but every Ukrainian has spirit, and they wanted to break that,” Hlib Stryzhko added.
Yevhen Mezhevyy shared his ordeal of realizing that his children had been deported to Russia, before eventually getting them back: “Now my middle daughter is scared of blasts, any loud noises or even loud music or fireworks. When there is a celebration somewhere near, it’s a nightmare for us. She hides under the blanket and bursts into tears. Really horrible things happened to her. Also nearly all the children scream at night.”
Photos are available are here
Video is available here
