Ukrainian teenager taken by Russians considered suicide after solitary confinement
In October last year, Tetiana Bodak 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 Rudenko 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.
It “cuts my heart” and is a “betrayal”.
This was the response of a Ukrainian soldier in a frontline combat regiment directly affected by Donald Trump’s decision to pause US military support to Ukraine.
Serhii, 45, maintains a unit of US-supplied Bradley infantry fighting vehicles that are defending an area of eastern Ukraine from attacking Russian forces.
The halt to American military aid – if sustained – means there will be no new ammunition and no ability to repair any of the vehicles when they are damaged – a constant risk.
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On a recent mission by the 425th Storming Regiment “Skala”, three Bradleys went into battle towards the direction of the city of Pokrovsk, an area of heavy clashes.
Only two returned after the other was hit by the Russian side.
Troops said it would be for Ukraine to defend their land without US military support
“It’s going to be very hard,” Serhii said, standing next to a large Bradley, covered by a camouflage net and tucked under a line of trees in the Donetsk region.
“These vehicles are really good. You can fight back with them. And not just defend, you can even advance. It’s a shame we didn’t have this equipment two or three years ago.”
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Trump pauses military aid to Ukraine – what now?
The regiment has been using Bradleys for a number of months. Serhii is the lead mechanic.
The tracked vehicles, armed with a chain gun that can fire 200 rounds per minute, were first developed in the 1980s but have been fitted with modern reactive armour that means they can survive drone strikes, rocket attacks and the shrapnel from artillery rounds.
“The vehicle’s protection… is fantastic,” Serhii said, with clear admiration for the equipment compared with Soviet-era fighting vehicles that many Ukrainian troops have to use.
Soliders said the Bradley infantry vehicles are good for advancing, not just defence
He said the crew of one of his Bradleys was hit by two rocket-propelled grenades but was able to continue driving and was unharmed.
Serhii, who comes from the Donetsk region, said he felt betrayed by Mr Trump’s decision to halt such crucial support.
The US president ordered the move as he attempts to put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate a ceasefire deal with Russia.
“Although I’m not a politician, it’s a betrayal for us, for the guys who are defending Ukraine,” the soldier said.
Inside a US-supplied Bradley vehicle
Asked how he felt when he heard the news about the US president’s decision, Serhii said: “The latest news cuts my heart, I can answer you that way. It cuts my heart… If politicians solve issues this way, just by halting weapons supply in one move, that’s criminal.”
He signalled it would be harder for Ukrainian troops to defend their land without the US military support – but they would still fight.
“Even without this weapon, we believe we will move forward,” he said.
“They [the Russians] have to retreat, no matter what. The guys didn’t take up arms here for nothing, and they stand together. Together, all of us, as one, will defeat this enemy.”
As for whether he had a message for Mr Trump, the soldier said: “Don’t stop military aid. Politics is politics, but the people, I believe, are the most important.
“It will be very hard for us without such equipment. This equipment is good; it allows us to show results. And we will keep showing them. We’ve shown them before and we will keep showing them. That’s how it is. Thank you.”
Fighting ‘for my motherland’
Soldier Sedoi said he is ‘tired’ of the war
Sky News watched as two crews prepared their fighting vehicles for a potential mission on Thursday evening.
Sedoi, 41, commands one of the Bradleys and operates the gun.
He said the American-supplied vehicle gives him confidence when he goes into battle – and was also likely a scary prospect for Russian troops to have to encounter.
“We make a lot of noise. Everything catches fire and burns… It’s a good vehicle,” he said.
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Will Kyiv fall without US support?
Sedoi said he did not have a reaction to the news about the halt to American military support, saying: “I don’t get involved in their politics.”
However, he signalled he did want an end to the war – even if it meant Russia keeping some of the land it has seized.
“Let it end, so people stop dying. Because a lot of people have died,” he said.
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Recently recovered from a shrapnel wound, Sedoi said he volunteered to fight after Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale war more than three years ago because of Russia’s brutality.
“I’ve heard what they do when they enter villages, what they do with children and women… I don’t want them to go any further… That’s why I’m here.
“But, to be honest, I’m getting tired of it.”
Yet still he and his fellow soldiers battle on. Asked why he was fighting, the soldier said: “For my motherland.”
A warning by Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin to stop “pounding” Ukraine or else, appears to have fallen on deaf ears after another night of devastating Russian strikes.
The persistent pummelling of Ukrainian towns and cities also follows a decision by the US president to stop sharing American intelligence and weapons with Kyiv – a move that is directly hampering the Ukrainian military’s ability to defend their skies from the Russian onslaught.
In the deadliest attack overnight, at least 11 people were killed and 30 wounded, including five children, in the town of Dobropillia, about 15 miles from the frontline in the Donestsk region of eastern Ukraine.
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The Ukrainian police service said a Russian ballistic missile, rockets and attack drones hit eight multi-storey buildings as well as a shopping centre and dozens of cars.
Firefighters work at the site of the strike. Pic: Reuters/State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Pic: Reuters/State Emergency Service of Ukraine
“Some buildings were burnt down almost completely,” the national police of Ukraine said in a post on its Telegram social media channel.
Another three civilians were killed and seven injured in a drone attack on the Kharkiv region in the northeast of the country, according to a separate post by the interior ministry.
Just hours earlier, the US president posted a warning to the Kremlin on social media.
“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large-scale banking sanctions, sanctions, and tariffs on Russia until a cease fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” he wrote.
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!”
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Trump: ‘Ukraine difficult to deal with’
Kyiv will be watching closely to see whether Moscow’s continuing attacks will prompt Mr Trump to carry out his threat.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been in crisis mode ever since Mr Trump returned to office and started attacking his record on the war, falsely calling him a dictator and even claiming – again erroneously – that Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s invasion.
Sky News on the ground in Dobropillia 24hrs before strike
A Sky News team was in Dobropillia 24 hours before the attack – stopping off to grab food at a pizza restaurant that was close to the site of at least two of the incoming strikes.
The restaurant is on a road of shops, including a clothes store and a small grocery outlet.
The town, which used to be home to 28,000 residents before Russia’s full-scale war, feels far more battle-hardened than areas further away from the frontline.
Fighting has been raging for months between invading Russian forces and Ukrainian troops, just over a dozen miles away, around the city of Pokrovsk.
Despite the closeness of the war, however, many civilians, including children, still live in Dobropillia.
In the most significant blow, Washington has paused the sharing on intelligence with its Ukrainian partners, instantly making it far harder for Ukraine to have a clear picture on the movement of Russian forces and weapons, while also hampering the ability of the Ukrainian armed forces to effectively conduct targeting attacks against Russian positions.
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A decision to stop the flow of military support to Ukraine will also have a huge impact on the country’s ability to keep defending itself.
The US has been Kyiv’s largest and most important supplier of arms, including the Patriot air defence system – the only piece of equipment in Ukraine’s arsenal that has the ability to take down ballistic missiles.
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