Canada is a leader of the international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children, which means that Canada can initiate a lot of actions that can be taken simultaneously by states that are members of this international coalition. For example, we can speak about sanctions. We have to demonstrate that people who are involved in the genocidal policy of taking Ukrainian children to Russia and bringing them up as Russians will be punished. Canada can also address to the deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, who is responsible for children in war, a request to provide the status of “abducted child” to Ukrainian children in Russia until the moment their whereabouts and destiny are identified and solved. Canada can do a lot.
I will focus on something else that Canada can provide for children in Ukraine. Because the children are going through the experience of war, a very horrible experience, they need a lot of psychological help. We now have a lack of mental health specialists in Ukraine to provide this help.
Just to understand the circumstances, I will tell you the story of one Ukrainian child. It's the story of a 10-year-old boy, Ilya, from Mariupol. When the Russians tried to seize the city, they didn't allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to evacuate civilians. Hence, Ilya and his mother hid from Russian shelling in the basement of their building. They melted snow to have water. They made fires to cook at least some food. When supplies ran out, they were forced to go out, and suddenly there was Russian shelling. Ilya's mother was injured in her head, and the boy's leg was torn. With a lot of strength, his mother took her son to a friend's apartment.
There was no medical assistance. Prior to this, the Russians had destroyed hospitals and the entire medical infrastructure in Mariupol. In this friend's apartment, Ilya and his mother were lying on the couch and hugging each other. They were lying like this for several hours. Ilya told my colleague that his mother died, frozen right in his arms.