Ukrainian teenager taken by Russians considered suicide after solitary confinement
In October last year, Tetiana Rudenko was away from her home in southern Ukraine attending her mother’s funeral.
While she was out, armed Russian men in balaclavas arrived and ordered her 17-year-old son Vlad to go with them.
He at first refused but realised he had little choice.
“They had weapons with them. And I understood that everything could get bad. So I packed my things and went with them. Better not to mess around with them,” he told Sky News.
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It was the beginning of eight months in Russian hands – being in Russian-controlled territory camps whilst separated from his family, his home and everything he knew and trusted.
Tetiana was beside herself.
“He was not allowed to leave because of the tragedy that had just happened to us. When I found out he was already gone, I was very angry,” she said.
“I missed and worried about him, especially when there was no communication, when the connection was cut off. I was very concerned and missed my son a lot.”
Vlad’s new life was one of indoctrination by the Russians.
In photos he sent his mother from one camp after another, he was beginning to change. They showed him brandishing a gun and boxing. He had never played any sport before.
Vlad’s mother says his personality appeared to change while in the camps
But there were more worrying signs too, of injuries, a broken leg and broken finger.
There was mental and physical abuse, he says, and he was punished when he tried to leave.
“I felt bad because I didn’t like the place I was in, and I was interrogated and asked why I left, I said I want to come home to Ukraine,” he said.
‘Cash and a flat to become Russian’
The Russians put Vlad in solitary confinement, he says, where he considered killing himself.
“It was difficult. Five days of not talking to anyone.
Vlad was put in body armour and taken from his home
The teenager says he suffered physical and mental abuse
“And all you just see is someone bringing you food and you’re sitting and thinking what to do. You’re just isolated, you don’t hear anything, it’s like you’re deaf and I was thinking about suicide.”
The camps were in Russian-controlled Crimea and occupied Kherson region.
Vlad says the children are told there that Ukraine is run by Nazis, that their families did not expect them home, and they are offered incentives to aspire for Russian citizenship – including the promise of cash and apartments.
They are made to sing the Russian national anthem.
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The Russians claim they are saving children from war for humanitarian reasons.
They say they intend to return children who have been evacuated from the conflict zone to Ukraine when the conditions there are safe enough for them to do so.
Tetiana Bodak embarked on a dangerous mission to find her son
Children being “forcefully brought to Russia” is an issue that has been “totally overblown”, they say.
Back home, Tetiana asked an NGO for help. She and a handful of mothers plotted with ‘Save Ukraine’ on ways to bring back their children.
Mum interrogated after rescue mission
To rescue Vlad, Tetiana would risk a perilous journey from Ukraine into Poland, then Belarus, before flying to Moscow and overland through Russia into occupied Ukraine.
It spanned thousands of miles and took over a week, when finally, she was reunited with her son. She recalled the moment.
Vlad posted this picture of an open road as he finally headed home
Vlad is now enjoying time at home with brother Kostia
“Tears, tears. I was crying. I just hugged him and cried. I didn’t have any other emotions, just tears were running from my eyes,” she said.
But her ordeal wasn’t over: the Russians held Tetiana for six days and interrogated her for 10 hours, even placing a bag over her head, leaving her haunted by the ordeal.
“Every time I think about it, I just want to forget it, like a nightmare that never happened. I had lots of different thoughts.
“I worried that they could have taken me and I would have never returned, and I feared that I would never see any of my children again, not just Vlad,” she said.
Eventually, the Russians let both go, to make the long journey back to Ukraine.
They’re stuck in Kyiv now, home is too dangerous to go back to because of Russian shelling.
But Tetiana’s worries haven’t ended.
She said Vlad’s eight months in Russian camps have changed him and he can’t open up about what really happened.
“It pains me deeply that I’ve come all this way and he just pushes me away. I feel offended.
“But I understand him, as a mother I forgive him, because I don’t know the whole truth about what had happened to him. Maybe he is doing this because he wants to protect me,” she said.
Tetiana fears there is a lot her son isn’t telling her about his time in Russia
The NGO that helped Tetiana bring Vlad back says the others left behind are being turned into young Russians to help with the war on Ukraine.
Mykolo Kuleba, from Save Ukraine, told Sky News: “The worst is that these children will be growing with the hate of Ukraine.
“They will grow and receive Russian citizenship and go fight against Ukraine to understand that Ukraine is the enemy, and I’m very afraid that we will lose thousands, or hundreds of thousands of children, who Russia has brainwashed.”
Vlad may be back on Ukrainian soil, but the trauma inflicted by the Russians is still with him and his mother.
Across occupied Ukraine and deep into Russia, so many more like him have yet to come home and perhaps never will.
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
Ukraine and its allies have agreed to work on a ceasefire plan in the next 10 days, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
The Ukrainian president made the remarks after a proposal from US President Donald Trump to stop the war at its current frontlines.
“Some quick points – like a plan for a ceasefire. We decided we will work on it in the next week or 10 days,” Mr Zelenskyy told Axios.
He said Ukraine – partly in an attempt to pressure Russia into talks – was asking the US administration not only for Tomahawk missiles but for “similar things” that do not require lengthy training before Ukrainian military personnel can use them.
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Moment Russian soldiers surrender in Ukraine war
On the ground, Ukraine has moved to strengthen its positions in the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk, as groups of Russian troops infiltrated the city, Kyiv’s military said.
Ukrainian officials said Russian troops have renewed their attempts to capture the key transport hub in the Donetsk region.
“The occupiers, who have entered the city, are not trying to take hold, but intend to advance further north,” the 7th Rapid Response Unit of Ukraine’s airborne troops said in a Facebook post.
“In doing so, the enemy wants to disperse our defence forces and block land logistics corridors.”
Mr Zelenskyy said Russia has concentrated its main strike force against Pokrovsk.
“There is fierce fighting in the city and on the approaches to the city… Logistics are difficult. But we must continue to destroy the occupiers,” he said.
Citing Ukrainian intelligence in his interview with Axios, Mr Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin had privately claimed Moscow would capture the entire Donbas – comprising the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk – by 15 October.
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It comes after Russia tested a new nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable cruise missile, which Mr Putin said could dodge existing defences.
Development of the Burevestnik missile, codenamed Skyfall by NATO, was first revealed by Mr Putin in 2018, when he claimed it would have an unlimited range, allowing it to circle the globe undetected by missile defence systems.
In 2019, five nuclear engineers and two service members were killed in an explosion when Russian experts reportedly tried to recover a Burevestnik prototype that had crashed into the White Sea during tests.
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Mr Trump, speaking during an official trip from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo, said Mr Putin’s talk about missiles was not “appropriate”.
“You’ve got to get the war ended. A war that should have taken one week is now in its soon fourth year,” he said. “That’s what you ought to do, instead of testing missiles.”
A Kremlin spokesperson claimed the missile reflects Moscow’s determination to look out for its security interests.
“Russia is consistently working to ensure its own security,” Dmitry Peskov said when asked if the missile announcement was a response to tough new US sanctions imposed on Russia and a signal to the West.
“Ensuring security is a vital issue for Russia, especially against the backdrop of the militaristic sentiment that we are currently hearing, primarily from the Europeans,” he added.
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