A Ukrainian teenager who spent nearly a year under Russian control during the war has described how he was taken from his village and moved across occupied territories where he says children were subjected to propaganda and military-style training.
Rostislav Lavrov was 16 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He was living with his mother and grandmother in Radensk village in the Kherson region when Russian troops entered his area within hours of the war beginning.
“We didn’t leave because, by lunchtime, Russian soldiers came to our village,” Lavrov, now 20, told The i Paper.
His grandmother later died due to health issues while his mother was taken to a mental health facility which left him alone under Russian control.
Lavrov said he survived for months by working in gardens for neighbours in exchange for food. His situation changed when armed soldiers arrived at his home.
“It was already dark, I heard someone knocking on the gate. There were five soldiers and the head of the village, that is, a collaborator,” he recalled.
He was offered admission to a college following the Russian curriculum. When he refused, Lavrov said he was threatened with being sent to an orphanage. Days later, armed men returned and forced him into a dormitory in Russian-occupied Kherson.
Soon after, he was told he would be taken to Crimea for a short break. Instead, he was transported along with other Ukrainian children to facilities across the peninsula.
Lavrov said life in the camp turned strict. Children were expected to speak Russian, attend propaganda sessions and sing the Russian national anthem daily.
“They said, ‘If you come to Russia, you have to speak Russian, respect it,’” he said.
He added that he was punished and placed in solitary confinement for refusing to follow orders.
“There was a small room and you sat there without a phone… just their book with propaganda.”
Lavrov spent about a year between the camp and a military college in Crimea before being rescued in a covert operation by Save Ukraine, a charity working to bring back abducted children.
Mykola Kuleba, head of Save Ukraine, said over 1,000 rescued children have reported indoctrination and forced militarisation.
“They brainwash kids every day and turn them into Russian soldiers,” he said.
After returning to Ukraine, Lavrov said he had no documents or belongings and needed psychological support. He now works part-time in construction and hopes to become a photographer.
He shared his story so that “whole world can see how Russians are abusing Ukrainian children, how they want to make Russian children out of Ukrainian children.”