Children of Ukraine

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, FRONTLINE chronicles the search for Ukraine’s missing children. This journalism is made possible by viewers like you. Support your local PBS station here: https://www.pbs.org/donate​

Since the start of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, thousands of Ukrainian children have been taken and held in Russian-controlled territory. “Children of Ukraine” tells the story of Ukrainian teenagers who escaped, and of Ukrainian families and investigators trying to track down missing children and collect evidence of alleged abductions.

The documentary explores how, in 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for the alleged war crime of unlawful deportation of children from occupied areas of Ukraine. The Kremlin dismissed the charges as “outrageous,” and Russia has said it’s been relocating Ukrainian children to ensure their safety and to provide medical care and education.

Directed and produced by BAFTA-award winning journalist Paul Kenyon, “Children of Ukraine” follows investigators with the International Partnership for Human Rights as they travel through Ukraine and collect accounts that tell a different story — including multiple cases in which Ukrainian teenagers held in Russian-controlled territory say they were mistreated and subjected to Russian propaganda.

With more than 19,000 children still being held illegally by Russia, according to Ukrainian authorities, “Children of Ukraine” is a powerful look at a little-known dimension of the Ukraine war.

“Children of Ukraine” is a Basement Films production for GBH/FRONTLINE in association with Channel 4.

The director and producer is Paul Kenyon. The producer is Maxim Tucker. The senior producer is Dan Edge. The executive producer of Basement Films is Ben de Pear. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.

First aired on FRONTLINE.

Shared via Creative Commons