newYou can now listen to Fox News articles.
I was a teenager when Russian authorities kidnapped me and my 11-year-old brother Serhiy from our home in Ukraine. What followed was the worst nine months of my life.
Serhiy and I are orphans from Kharkov, but when Russia started the war, we moved to the nearby city of Bovchansk to live with a foster family. We hid in our basement for months until the Russian authorities took over our town and detained my brother and me.
We wanted to stay with foster parents, but the Russians put us on a bus with other children. I was sent to Shebekino, a town near Belgorod, and my brother was sent to Gelendzhik, in the Krasnodar region, across the Russian border.
Key NATO ally shocked by ‘single largest’ pledge to Ukraine: ‘They need our support’
We were told this trip would last three weeks. But we were 900 miles apart for 9 months. Serhiy and I didn’t realize it at the time, but we had just been abducted by the Russians.
Ksenia Kordin and her brother Serhiy are Ukrainians who were abducted by Russia. (Save Ukraine)
What does this have to do with the Americans or with the aid that Ukraine desperately needs?
A bill providing critical aid to Ukraine has passed Congress and been signed by President Joe Biden. House Speaker Mike Johnson said “tyrants” like Russian President Vladimir Putin “are watching to see whether the United States will stand up for its allies and its own interests around the world.”
This aid package would send a clear message to President Putin that the United States will not back down. The Ukrainian people appreciate this message, and we ask the United States and all Americans to continue to support us in our fight against Putin and in our efforts to preserve our national identity.
Ukrainians are hoping that the United States will overcome the internal divisions that have delayed this desperately needed aid and emboldened Russia. We know it’s difficult to support a small country thousands of miles away when you have so many other priorities at home. I hope my story can show Americans why it is so important to support Ukraine to ensure the survival of its people, values, and culture.
Ksenia Kordin testified at the Helsinki Commission hearings about how 19,000 Ukrainian children were kidnapped by Russia. (Oh Myung Hoon)
When the Russians took me, I was sent to a technical school, where every day I was told false stories about Ukrainians and sometimes even insulted. One day I was called to the principal’s office and when I got there, the principal had citizenship papers ready for me to sign. I was stunned and disgusted. I had never been so afraid, but I refused to become a Russian citizen.
The principal glared at me with hatred in his eyes. She accused me of being “stupid.” After a while, I was deported, packed up and sent to a strange country that hated me.
After being expelled, I moved to a friend’s house. I was desperate to get home.That’s when I learned that save ukraine, an organization that rescues abducted children and supports their recovery. Then he spent three weeks with a secret network that led me to safety. Russia is actively trying to prevent any more abducted children from leaving the country and sharing their stories, so we cannot go into further detail without putting these brave volunteers at risk. Can not.
Thanks to Save Ukraine, I was able to go home, so I had to take my younger brother out as well.
Ksenia Koldin hugs her younger brother Serhii. Initially, he was reluctant to leave Russia because he was exposed to propaganda against Ukraine. (Save Ukraine)
I found him in a new foster home, but he was not the boy I knew. He had been subjected to months of Russian propaganda and manipulation. Things he does not believe, such as that he is like a puppet and that Ukraine is run by the Nazis, that no one in Ukraine cares about him, that he has no future unless he becomes a Russian citizen. I knew.
For more FOX News opinions, click here
When I begged him to come home with me, he refused.
Hours passed as we argued. Just when I was losing hope, he came to his senses and agreed to come home with me.
we were lucky. However, there are still 19,000 kidnapped Ukrainian children in Russia. The Russian government bombards them with propaganda and abuse to weaken their Ukrainian identity. Many people are punished for speaking Ukrainian.
This aid package would send a clear message to President Putin that the United States will not back down. The Ukrainian people appreciate this message, and we call on the United States and all Americans to continue to support us in our fight against Putin and in our efforts to preserve our national identity.
Most worryingly, many young people are forced to join the military once they turn 18. They are trained to fight against their own people and brainwashed to hate the United States, the enemy of the Russian state. Some of them are then deployed to the front lines of the war.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In January of this year, I told my story to members of Congress. I am sharing my story again to prevent any more children from going through the same abduction, brainwashing, and trauma.
Ukraine’s democracy will not survive without U.S. support to fight Russia’s unprovoked aggression and rebuild the future Russia is stealing from Ukraine’s children.
