Civilian witnesses of war crimes spoke to members of the Dutch parliament to draw the attention of politicians to the consequences of the war in Ukraine, to reveal the truth about the impact of the war on the civilian population and to discuss ways to bring Russia to justice.
Particular attention was paid to the impact of the war on children, who are one of the most vulnerable categories in this conflict. In particular, 17-year-old Olha, who returned after a decade of Russian occupation to fulfill her dream of living and studying in Ukraine, told her story. The girl does not give her last name for safety reasons.
“To live under occupation is to live in fear. Always afraid to be who you are. I have lived under occupation since I was seven years old. The war came to my hometown in the summer of 2014. It started with explosions. And also with checkpoints where some unknown men with guns checked everyone’s documents. My grandmother said then: “I was also a child when I learned what war was in 1942.” I was scared. “Are we all going to die?” – I asked my mom. We didn’t die, but our normal life died,” the girl said during her speech.
Yaroslav Bazylevych also told his story to Dutch parliamentarians. His family died as a result of Russian shelling in Lviv in the summer of 2024.
“Our house was completely destroyed. Among the concrete and dust were things that reminded us of moments of peaceful life, dreams and a future that we will never see together. Russia took everything from me. What happened to my family is a grave war crime committed by Russia, an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people. I would like this to be the last such tragic case, but as we can see, Russia is still continuing its illegal aggression with impunity,” said Yaroslav.
The stories of Olha and Yaroslav are a reminder that war has faces, and each of these faces must be seen by the world, each story must be heard.
The event was also attended by Yulia Tukalenko, a psychologist from the Voices of Children Foundation who works with children who have returned from the occupied territories and the territory of the Russian Federation. The expert spoke about the main psychological difficulties faced by children who returned to the government-controlled territory.
“We don’t know the condition of those children who remain in occupation or are deported to the territory of the Russian Federation. But those who are returning are striking in their strength and resilience. Some of them worked after school just to raise money to leave (the road from the occupation is not only scary, but also expensive). These children go alone if their parents do not support their patriotic position. They endure hours of interrogation and searches by the FSB at the border. We are happy for every child who succeeds. But thousands remain in the occupied territories. Hundreds of thousands of children. We can only guess what happens to them,” the psychologist summarized.
We call on the international community to join the discussions, support Ukraine’s efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice and create conditions for the restoration of the lives of children and adults who suffered in this horrific war.
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