A Ukrainian teenager who was forcibly removed from his homeland by invading Russian forces and sent to Moscow in 2022 had his birthday wish granted last month when he was returned to Ukraine and reunited with family.
Bohdan Yermokhin grew up as an orphan in Mariupol, a city in Ukraine's Donetsk region that became the target of a brutal siege in the early weeks of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. As Russian forces took control of the city, Yermokhin became one of more than 20,000 children Ukraine says have been illegally transferred to Russia since the war began.
He spent about 1 1/2 years in foster care against his will in Russia before his release was secured on November 19, the day he turned 18, following Ukrainian and international intervention.
From his new home in the Ukrainian capital, he spoke this month to Maryana Sych of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service about being sent away from his hometown along with 31 other Ukrainian children. He talks about efforts by Moscow to indoctrinate him, to draft him into the Russian military to fight against his native country, and of his desire to escape Russia.
The following is an abridged version of his interview, part of a series that explores how Ukrainians whose lives have been uprooted by the war are faring.
Bohdan, now we are in the center of Kyiv. Have you been here before?
- No, I have never been here. But here it is very beautiful, in its own way.
All around us you see destroyed Russian equipment on display. What do you feel, what are your thoughts, when you look at it?
- I feel warmth in my soul. I feel that we will win soon, that our spirit is not broken, and that we are stronger than anyone can be.
How long did you stay in Mariupol after the start of the war?
- About three months.
What happened to you next?
- I was deported to Russia.
Were you given a choice to go to Russia?
- We were not particularly asked. We had no documents; that is, we had no real choice. We were faced with the fact: "You are leaving." And that was it. We left with hope for the best, with the hope that we -- intelligent people -- would somehow get out.
But in any case, it was safer to leave Mariupol. We would not have survived in Mariupol for more than a week. We had already run out of food.
As far as I understand, at first you were taken to Donetsk [the occupied capital of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region]. Can you explain how it happened that your friends, classmates from school, all ended up in Donetsk at the same hospital?
- It was fate. It was made to be.
You were then transported to Russia by bus and plane. You were placed in a sanatorium, part of a group of 31 children. Do you know where the other boys and girls are now?
- In general, yes, they are all with [Russian foster] families. But most of them -- after we were in Donetsk, after they were transferred, I didn't see them again. And I did not hear about them.
What were you and other Ukrainian children told about Ukraine in Russia?
- Many things: including that the children had been handed over [by Ukraine to Russia].... There are many propaganda stories about this and many children even from my group believed this, unfortunately.
Did you study in Russia?
- Yes, I studied.
Where did you study and with whom?
- At the Mozhaisk Technical School [in the Moscow region] -- for auto mechanics.
Did you choose that profession for yourself?
- There was somewhat of a choice.
How did your fellow students treat you?
- Not too badly. But since I am not a weak boy, I was not openly insulted.
And how did they insult you?
- By the fact that I had to "kneel" -- in their word -- that I should "fall" back. That's what I did, basically.
You were placed in the foster family of Irina Rudnitska. How were you treated by this family?
- I would say that it was not so bad in the family. Irina Rudnitska, my guardian, showed as much as possible, even at the end, that she only wanted me to be able to go [home].
She supported, helped, and let go. In principle, a good person. But, again, she would not go against [Russia's] authority.
What were the last words she said to you at the airport?
- That she loves me, like a son.
When did you realize that you wanted to leave Russia?
- Honestly, for the first six months I withdrew from everything. I was withdrawn after everything that happened in Mariupol. I couldn't comprehend where I was, who I was. But when I left [Ukraine], I realized that I was not at home. I was uncomfortable.
I saw a video where you said that every day was an internal struggle. Can you explain this struggle?
- The fact that being in the circle of the enemy, such patriots of their country, can turn you against your own country. You feel an internal struggle.
On the one hand, you understand that you must speak [in favor of your situation]; and on the other hand, you understand that you cannot speak like that. You have a different homeland, and they are waiting for you at home.
You wrote a song about Mariupol. What is the song about?
- The song is about my native city, about how beautiful it is, how friendly everyone in it is, and the fact that no one will ever see it the way it was – only in photographs and memories.
What is your last memory of Mariupol?
- A ruined city. I call it a ghost town because so many people died there. I lived in the only nine-story building in the whole area. I saw all the explosions, all the military equipment that was moving. It was more scary than for those who did not see all this.
Where were you hiding? What did you eat?
- Everyone was in the basement. They ate everything they could find, everything they had -- the supplies that remained. People from the neighboring buildings asked for water and my friend and I decided: Why not?
We went to get water for ourselves, so why not bring it to people along the way? They gave us bottles -- we filled them and delivered them.
What did you see in Mariupol?
- I saw explosions. Every second house was destroyed -- halfway or completely. There were 30 dead people in each yard. They were buried there in the yards.
Tell me about the girl in Mariupol you held in your arms.
- Honestly, it's a difficult story. I can only say that I saw her when she screamed, "Help!" [when she] saw her mother dead nearby.
I held her in my arms with the hope that I could do something. But I understood that I would not be able to do anything. I tried somehow to show her with a smile that everything would be fine. But nothing good happened.
Do you remember anything about your real parents?
- There is not much to say about my real parents. Only names. They were with me until the age of 6. Such moments faded from memory very quickly.
Who was your guardian at the beginning of the war?
- The director of my school. He left, took all my documents with him, and absolved himself of all responsibility. I think this is wrong.
Did the director or the employees of the school inform you when the war started?
- No, they all abandoned us. We were transferred to another place [to Donetsk] where they said that help would come.
You still don't know where this director is now?
- No. I only know that he abdicated his responsibility.
How do you feel about this person?
- There is anger toward him, but we are all human. Maybe he was afraid of the war and ran away.... He could at least have given us our documents, because without documents I could not get back to Ukrainian-held territory. I had such an opportunity. There were buses from Mariupol to the Ukrainian-controlled territory of Zaporizhzhya. But only with documents.
How did Irina Rudnitska and Maria Lvova-Belova (Russia's presidential commissioner for children's rights, for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant relating to her role in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children) react to your attempts to escape and to your desire to return home?
- Rudnitska, she behaved quite normally, with understanding. Lvova-Belov -- she was very angry.
Lvova-Belova said on several occasions that you and she had a quite close relationship. Did you really speak with her and about what?
- We saw each other several times and spoke. In general, there was no such thing [as a relationship].
Is it true that you were friends with Pylyp Holovnya (a boy deported from Mariupol) who was adopted by Lvova-Belova?
- Yes, he and I were best friends.
And when did you meet him?
- When I studied in Mariupol, in School No. 65, in the ninth grade. He was in the eighth grade. That's where we became friends.... And then we met again in Donetsk.
How is he now?
- I cannot say. It would hurt him a lot.
You devoted a lot of your social media posts to Ukraine, wrote about the fact that you missed Ukraine. Was it not scary for you to write such things when you were in Russia?
- It was not scary at all. What would they do? In any case, they would not change my opinion in any way.
Were you threatened after these posts?
- There were times -- by representatives of the authorities, representatives of the law, and also civilians. They are all blind patriots.
I know a lot of the children [who were sent to Russia], and I know that a lot of them want to go home. But, again, we are silent, we do nothing. Maybe we do something, but we do it behind the scenes -- and they don't even know about it. They feel abandoned."
You dedicated a song to the defenders of Ukraine. I know that it was very important to you for them to know that you wrote it for them. Why?
- So that they believe in themselves, in victory. That while their position is quite difficult, people still believe in them. And so they don't stop believing in victory, so there is motivation, so they do not lose heart. Only if we do not lose heart will we be able to win.
You were offered housing in Russia. What kind of housing was it and why did you refuse?
- It was an apartment. I refused because money cannot buy Ukrainians. We are not like that.
After you were sent from Russia and then to Belarus, what was it like to return to Ukraine?
- On the first day, I could comprehend where I was, how I was. My soul rejoiced every second, and I had a smile on my face. It was very nice. What could I expect for my 18th birthday? Definitely not this.
What did you feel when you saw Valeria, your sister, who came to pick you up?
- I felt happiness, warmth, over the fact that a loved one was near.
When you crossed the border from Belarus into Ukraine, what emotions did you have?
- Joy. They immediately handed me the Ukrainian flag, and I, hugging it, moved ahead. That's when I realized that all my struggles, everything, was over. But I also understood that it was not the end. There are many children who also need our support. And we should not forget about them either.
What are you planning to do now?
- We will start a charity fund with friends to help with the return of our children. I believe that no one in our country, absolutely no one, knows 100 percent how a [Ukrainian] child feels there [in Russia], or what needs to be done.
And how do the Ukrainian children there feel?
- They feel abandoned. Every child feels abandoned.... Why, if we know a child wants to go home, do we do nothing?
Only after my appeal to [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskiy, only after my appeal to the office of [Ukrainian parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro] Lubinets did everyone really understand that I wanted to go home, even though I had stated this earlier.
We just keep quiet and wait until the kids hate us. And we should not do that.
Do you know many of the Ukrainian children who were sent to Russia?
- I know a lot of the children, and I know that a lot of them want to go home. But, again, we are silent, we do nothing. Maybe we do something, but we do it behind the scenes -- and they don't even know about it. They feel abandoned. They feel trapped there and abandoned by their motherland. It is a very terrible feeling.
We have a big problem in that people who do not know the child personally cannot take custody. And there are many children who have no relatives at all. And we cannot get them returned in any way. Most of the children there are from orphanages and there is nothing we can do about it. It is much easier to return children with relatives.
In Russia, you were summoned to join the Russian military. Now you are in Ukraine, you are 18 years old -- there is now an opportunity to join the Ukrainian Army. Are you ready for this?
- There is such an opportunity, but I am studying. I'm not afraid of [joining the military]. But if I do, it will only be of my own free will.
Upon returning to Ukraine, you recorded a song called Motherland. What is it about?
- About Mariupol, how I left the city in general. About Ukraine, that no matter where I am, I will not forget. I don't want to be anywhere else but Ukraine.
