News
24.01.2025
Victor Pinchuk Foundation hosts discussion “Kidnapped to Kill: The Weaponization of Ukraine’s Children by Russia” on the occasion of WEF 2025
Victor Pinchuk Foundation hosted a discussion titled, “Kidnapped to Kill: The Weaponization of Ukraine’s Children by Russia”, during WEF in Davos (Switzerland). The event was held as a part of the project ‘YOUR COUNTRY FIRST – WIN WITH US’, organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation and the PinchukArtCentre in cooperation with the Office of the President of Ukraine. The project, which combines an ongoing discussion program and an exhibition, is an immersive intellectual and visual experience, and a space for dialogue and action.
Moderated by Gillian Tett, Columnist and Editorial Board Member, Financial Times, a panel titled: “Kidnapped to Kill: The Weaponization of Ukraine’s Children by Russia (organized in cooperation with the Office of the President of Ukraine) with Mr. Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director, Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab; Mykola Kuleba, Founder, Save Ukraine; Expert in child protection; Daria Zarivna, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, and Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws LT KC uncovered the issues of the kidnapping of Ukrainian children.
Gillian Tett, Columnist and Editorial Board Member, Financial Times, moderated the discussion.
Gillian Tett, Columnist and Editorial Board Member, Financial Times started the session by saying: “We are here to discuss the coordinated, premeditated snatching of Ukraine’s children and taking them to Russia. The consequences for the families, the children and for Ukraine is unfathomable. Families deserve us to be fighting to get these children back.”
Daria Zarivna, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and Chief Operations Director of Bring Kids Back UA Taskforce, said: “Russian indoctrination dates back to centuries; it is nothing new. Throughout Russian history children have been taken from their families and communities, identities and culture. Since 2014 there has been an escalation of children have been deported by Russia. These children are taught to kill Ukrainians, to hate their homeland.”
Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws LT KC said: “These are war crimes, international law should protect children in times of war. Yet Putin is dismissive, he does not care about his obligations under international law. Nothing demoralises a nation more than losing its children—its future. For families and soldiers at the front, to know that your child has been lifted and they don't know where this child is is very painful.
“We have returned 1,037 children, 449 were returned in the last year. Our position has to be that the children that have been taken by Russia must not be used in any negotiation settlement. The taking of children is a war crime. It cannot be part and parcel of some deal to end this war. We must demand that it is dealt beforehand, and that Russia return the many thousands of children.”
Mr. Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director, Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab, said: “These children become poker chips in a very dangerous war game. If children are traded like POWs or spies then we are ripping a hole in The Geneva Convention. The deportation of children is a war crime, and the transfer of one ethnic race to another is a crime against humanity.”
Mykola Kuleba, Founder of Save Ukraine and expert in child protection, commented: “Thousands of children have been kidnapped from orphanages and disappeared. In the last 10 years, we have lost 1.6 million children to Russia. They are in Russian territories but we don’t know where. Russia has acknowledged 744,000 children but has said they will not give the information.”
Daria Zarivna, added: “People often ask what is just and lasting peace. It will only be lasting peace when Putin is beaten and understands the language of force will we know what he has. They never tell the truth and the Russians only understand the language of force. The West still thinks we can negotiate with Putin – but that is not the language that he understands.
“The figures are huge, and we don’t know how to bring those children back. We cannot stop, cannot be complacent. We have been doing this for two years, but we are moving step by step and our committed partners understand that if we want to put an end to it then Putin and his partners need to know he is beaten.”
Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws LT KC responded to a question from Gillian Tett on how to get more support: “We already have 41 countries signed up to a coalition of support to bring kids back. We are now engaged with the Global South; having conversations with neutral countries. On Monday this week, Darya and I were on call on this week with people in India and South Africa to tell them about what we just told you – ‘You can be neutral, but you cannot be neutral on children’. Putin is more likely to listen to countries in his circle.”
Photos are available here
Video is available here
