In addition to prisoners of war, thousands of Ukrainian citizens are being held in Russia, and hundreds of Russian citizens have been jailed for opposing the war. No real and lasting peace can be achieved if these people are left behind, since failure to grant them justice will signal approval of continued Russian repression and imperialist aggression.

Oleksandra Matviichuk and Oleg Orlov, joint laureates of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize have co-founded “People First”, an international campaign to focus attention on the needs of thousands of civilians whose lives have been compromised in the conflict. Orlov warns that “If peace is achieved as a result of the collusion of elites, namely Trump and Putin, this will fortify the fascist regime in Russia for many years to come.”

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Ukrainian sources claim that nearly 20,000 children have been forcibly removed to Russia, although an exact number is impossible to determine. In occupied territories Russian forces have undertaken a process of “filtration” to test inhabitants for loyalty to the regime. If parents fail this test, their children are declared to be “abandoned without parental care” and removed to camps and foster families.

Their names and birth records are often changed, making them almost impossible to locate, especially small children who cannot confirm their identity. Ukraine considers this mass deportation an act of genocide and in 2023 the International Criminal Court issued an international arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova. There are few reports of children who have successfully been reunited with families in Ukraine, such as Vlad Rudenko, who was rescued after spending 8 months under harrowing conditions in Russian camps that nearly brought him to suicide.

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