Denys Kostiev fled from occupied territory to Kyiv after receiving a draft summons — ABC News Australia

Ukrainian teenager Denys Kostiev, who after the occupation of Kherson became part of Russia’s system of camps and military training, secretly left via Belarus and returned to Kyiv. He told ABC News Australia about his experience.

Transfer to a camp in Crimea

At the beginning of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion — the aggressor state — Kostiev was living in an orphanage in Kherson. According to him, when the front line approached the city, Russian military personnel began visiting the institution. The director feared that the children could be taken away and therefore asked acquaintances and relatives to shelter them.

Kostiev moved in with his brother and grandmother, but several months later, when he was 16, he was sent against his will to a youth camp in Crimea, temporarily occupied by Russia. The young man said that after he protested, representatives of the Russian authorities threatened to send armed people to his home. According to him, the camp banned the Ukrainian language, music and symbols, while children were taught Russian songs and military-related subjects.

Training and draft summons

Kostiev was later returned to temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and enrolled in the Yunarmiya movement. He said that military personnel and representatives of special units taught participants how to disassemble and assemble a Kalashnikov rifle, as well as shoot from different positions.

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Later, the young man appeared in propaganda videos by pro-Kremlin channels, where he expressed support for Vladimir Putin. Kostiev explained that children were influenced by claims that Ukraine allegedly did not care about them. He was also issued a Russian passport.

After turning 18, Kostiev received a draft summons. He said that he feared being conscripted into the Russian army and taking part in the war against Ukrainians. After approximately two years in Russia’s propaganda and military training system, he was able to leave the occupied territory and reach Kyiv.

Search for deported children

Paige Farrenkopf, head of a group of researchers at Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, said that her team had tracked Ukrainian children at 210 locations in Russia and in occupied territories of Ukraine. In her assessment, there may be hundreds of such locations, and returning the children is becoming more difficult as they grow older and may be recruited into the Russian army.