"Echoes of Atrocity: A WAR-TORN Childhood" is a compelling documentary revealing russia's war crimes against innocent Ukrainian children.
A 20-year-old Ukrainian girl I know wrote to me after watching the film: "This must be seen by as many people as possible!
How children are suffering. How their opportunity TO JUST BE CHILDREN, to just have fun, to do what they love, is being taken away from them. Instead, they come under fire, lose their loved ones during shelling, are deprived of their parents as they are deported to russia - it's a nightmare."
It is so painful because their CHILDHOOD HAS BEEN STOLEN, unjustly, heinously usurped.
"Through powerful storytelling, it [Echoes of Atrocity] exposes unspeakable trauma inflicted on these young lives, shedding light on the shocking disregard for rules and moral boundaries in the relentless russian aggression unfolding in Europe. It aims to hold russia accountable and garner international support for the rescue and rehabilitation of children affected by the russian war against Ukraine." — documentary partner, SURGe Ukraine.
As of the 28th of May 2024 according to official verified data at the “CHILDREN OF WAR” government portal, 1,349 children have been injured with 29 having limbs amputated, 547 lost their lives, 2020 are missing, 19,546 have been deported or forcibly displaced...
Due to active hostilities and occupation of many areas in Ukraine, it is impossible to establish the 'real' number of children killed, wounded, stolen, russified, psychologically harmed... Even while Ukraine has recaptured over 50% of the territories first occupied in the full-scale invasion, russia still holds about 18% of the country and is wreaking havoc on the lives of children and their families.
Life is unpredictable in war as seen in the last few months of major increases in missile, drone, and bombing attacks across the country — especially in Kharkiv and other border regions in the east. UNICEF reports a 40% rise in children killed this year already over 2023.
On this International Children's Day we say Ukrainian children must be given the chance to live in peace and freedom. We are doing what we can to enable them to just be kids.
