russia’s actions against Ukrainian children violate CRC – Commissioner Daria Herasymchuk

During her briefing at Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform, Daria Herasymchuk, Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children’s Rights and Rehabilitation, shared a video with the story of Vladyslav, who was captured by russia at the age of 16 in 2022.

The experience of the child who saw with his own eyes the horrors of russian captivity, torture, abuse of Ukrainians and many other things, are evidence that russia brazenly violates, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion Vlad and his parents found themselves in different cities. At that time, the boy was taking care of his sick grandfather and decided to evacuate only after the death of his loved one.

At one of the checkpoints, the car in which Vlad was riding, was stopped. According to him, a russian of Chechen appearance was very angry because the phone was turned on in the boy’s hands, and when he saw the Ukrainian news on the screen, he completely lost his temper.

The russians escorted Vlad to the filtration camp. There they checked all the information about him and his family and, without explaining anything, took him to the pre-trial detention center.

According to Vlad, in order not to lose his mind, he often had to talk to himself. However, one day a 24-year-old neighbor was put in his cell, who after several days of torture cut his veins. Vlad was forced to clean up after that.

However, it was not the first time that the russians forced Vlad to clean up blood. He also had to wash the torture chamber, which according to him, was covered in blood every time.

Vlad was held captive for 90 days until the russians decided to release him. The boy managed to get to the meeting with his father thanks to the Ukrainians who were evacuating to Zaporizhia at that point.

“When this boy, who is still essentially a child, told me terrible things, not everything was included in the interview, it was difficult for me to understand what this child went through. A child sitting in a cell, and a young man was cut his own veins right next to him. And all he could do was just sit and talk to him while the person was dying. How can a child survive such an ordeal?” – Daria Herasymchuk added and noted that Vlad is currently undergoing rehabilitation outside of Ukraine.

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