Artem

Artem comes from Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region. After russian troops took the town, he and twelve other children were forced into a military vehicle and taken away.

The occupiers brought the children to an orphanage in Svatove, in the russian-occupied so-called “Luhansk People's Republic”. For two months Artem's mother did not even know where her son was.

In the orphanage Artem had to sleep in a basement on dirty bedding. He was told to “earn” a better place to sleep: he was forced to work.

Artem was given a russian military uniform and forced to take part in military drills. He was pressured to join the russian army. Artem refused.

When his mother finally found out where Artem was being held and managed to reach the camp, the management at first refused to release him: under russian law, they said, she had lost custody.

Ukraine had liberated Kupiansk by then, but Luhansk was still in russian hands. Only a rescue mission by an aid organisation finally brought Artem home to his family.