Kidnapped by Russia: One Ukrainian Family’s Fight to Preserve National Identity during War and Child Abduction Crisis

Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression has garnered international attention and support in recent times. While legislation providing crucial aid to Ukraine passed through Congress earlier this year, the assistance package sends a clear message not just to Russia but also to Ukrainians who are fighting for their national identity. Ksenia Koldin, one such individual from Kharkiv who was separated from her brother during the conflict, narrates the story of how she and Serhiy were kidnapped by Russian authorities when they relocated to a nearby city due to Russia’s invasion. The siblings wanted to stay with their foster parents but were sent to different towns as part of Moscow’s strategy for separating children from Ukrainian families during wartime, in what is now known as the “Russian policy on child abduction.”
The two spent nine months apart, unaware that they had been separated by 900 miles. Ksenia was sent to Shebekino and her brother to Gelendzhik across Russian borders after being told it would last three weeks. The siblings did not realize at the time that they were abducted by Russia.
Koldin’s story is just one of many as 19,000 Ukrainian children have been kidnapped by Moscow during its ongoing war against Ukraine. These youngsters are subjected to daily false stories about their country and sometimes insulted. They’re often sentenced without due process and taken into care across Russia’s borders in violation of international law.
The Russian government bombards these abducted children with propaganda, brainwashing them to weaken their Ukrainian identity while punishing those who speak the language. Many are forced to join the military when they turn 18 and trained to fight against their own people while being indoctrinated into hating America – Russia’s perceived enemy. Some of these young men then get deployed on the front lines, fighting a war that is not theirs.
Koldin shared her story with members of Congress in January this year as part of an effort to raise awareness about what Moscow has been doing. She implores Americans and other allies worldwide to continue supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression by providing crucial aid for both military action and rebuilding efforts that will help preserve the country’s national identity from further destruction at Russia’s hands.
The assistance package, which was signed into law earlier this year, sends a clear message not just to Moscow but also to Ukrainians who are fighting for their nation’s survival against all odds in the face of Russian aggression. Koldin and her brother Serhiy are grateful that Americans understand Ukraine’s struggle is everyone else’s as well, acknowledging that standing with small countries like ours will ensure our people, values, and culture survive.
Ksenia Koldin is a journalism student in Kyiv who was one of the 19,000 children kidnapped by Russia during its ongoing war against Ukraine. She currently volunteers for Save Ukraine – an organization that rescues abducted Ukrainian kids while supporting their recovery. Her story has once again come to light as a cautionary tale on Russian policy towards child abduction in times of conflict and the need for continued support from allies worldwide, especially America, whose assistance package will go some way toward preserving Ukraine’s national identity against Moscow’s aggression.