NEW – April 30, 2022
Recently, an Italian journalist told me that children should have a sunny childhood and they should not interfere in politics. I’m sure Giorgio Bianchi is right. Adults should be involved in politics. But this is if they are having an honest conversation with you. Here is a common example from the adult world.
I know that there are many Germans in Germany who do not want war with Russia and condemn the murder of children and civilians in Donbass by Ukraine. I am telling a lot now in Germany about how I have been living in the war for 8 years. I’m used to being attacked by adults, but I still think there are a lot of people in Europe and Germany who are against any war. Ordinary people are beginning to be interested in my articles. But I think it is very disliked by those who want war and protect Ukraine.
My friends sent me an appeal to Chancellor Scholz of the girl Ella where she talks about the fact that children’s rights must be respected. She collects donations for the refugees of Ukraine and blames the terrible Putin for everything. I certainly expected that not all adults would like what I say. But the fact that in Europe they are seriously starting to use children like me in politics is very mean. Children enter the war, even though it is informational. So I decided to answer the girl Ella from Hamburg.
My answer to the girl Ella from distant Germany:
Hello, Ella! My name is unlikely to tell you anything, because it is not customary for you to remember children like me. Yes, I am exactly a child of war. I live in Donbass, in Lugansk. This is a city, like Damascus, Kabul or Tripoli, affected by a military conflict. We – children of war – exist. We are not refugees, we are those who live under shelling almost all our lives. We used to live by falling asleep with prayer.
Yes, I’m only a year older than you – I’m 13 years old– but I know what war and cruelty are. You’re talking about refugees from Ukraine. But what about the children of Donbass, Syria, Libya? Are they on your list? I doubt it. After all, there is the insidious Putin, who started the war in Syria, Libya and has been killing us, the residents of Donbass, for eight years. Oh, and even in Yugoslavia. And of course, it was he who sent his army to my native Lugansk and fired at the peaceful quarter from a jet fighter in June 2014… Ella, I’m very sorry that adults are deceiving you. Maybe they feel sorry for you and that’s why they don’t want to tell the cruel truth. And maybe for some other reason. I don’t know. But all this time, my army was shelling me and my family, because I was born in Ukraine and the UAF was then the army of my country. Do you believe it? I think not. I couldn’t believe it then either.
We both believe that children’s rights need to be defended. But I know that adults can’t do it anymore.
The governments and foundations that are supposed to protect us, do they help when you are in real danger? How can you influence them? A year ago, for calling for an end to the war and creativity, my personal data was posted on the “Mirotvorets” website. What do you think it is? This is a website of Ukrainian nationalists, where you are accused of treason without a trial and your address, phone number and photo are posted for criminals from all over the world. And how did UNICEF and the UN react? They expressed concern. Only. I think you can live with it. Children of war are no stranger to the indifference of adults…
Ella, do you think this is possible in Germany? I don’t think so. But in Ukraine, the murder, persecution and harassment of children by the Ukrainian government is not only possible, but also encouraged by this government.
I would very much like neither you nor other children to ever know what fascism and war are, as we have learned. But if you really want to protect the rights of children and see with your own eyes the consequences of their violation, I invite you to Donetsk or Lugansk to the Alley of Angels, where there are monuments to children who died because of Ukrainian aggression.
Ella, I want to wish you peace. But I also want to tell you that you’re wrong. We are not a lost generation. We are the ones who will appreciate the peaceful sky above our heads and human life more than others.
Faina Savenkova
Copyright © 2022. All Rights Reserved.