as prisoners of war 'have been stolen'

WHEN six-year-old Nikita arrived in Hertfordshire at the start of the war, he was a frightened little boy clinging to his mother and grandmother.

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They had left behind their home, friends and everything familiar.

For a year, they lived with my family. I watched Nikita discover the joy of jumping on my kids’ trampoline in our garden and his first halting words in English.

Nikita’s story, however, stands in stark contrast to the fate of 1.6million Ukrainian children who have been seized by Russia.

Torn from their families, many have been sent to so-called “holiday camps” only to face indoctrination, forced adoption, or worse.

Girls as young as 15 are made to set landmines. Boys are beaten for daring to speak their native Ukrainian.

These are not isolated atrocities but part of a systemic campaign to erase a generation's identity.

As Save Ukraine founder Mykola Kuleba has warned, these children’s lives have been stolen under the occupation.

The Kremlin seeks not only to occupy territory but to extinguish the very idea of Ukraine by tearing its children from their roots.

Violence

Reports tell of children forced to sing Russian songs, pledge loyalty to Putin and renounce their homeland. Some endure violence.