Today at Riga Airport an unplanned Flash Mob was arranged by my colleague and Team member Janis Martins Skuja and the Vice President of Baltic Arturs Saveljevs Airlines. A Nord Stage 3 piano was set up with a banner of my Foundation ‘We Can Save Children’ that has a photo of me and a family from Kherson, Ukraine (Victoria 41, Arseny 11 and Timur 7 months) that I and the 5-man Team rescued and brought to safety in Latvia.
There were a lot of travelers in the airport on their way to their own separate destinations throughout Europe and during the mini-concert I spoke about my humanitarian aid and rescue mission. Many people stopped to watch and hear me perform but more importantly listen to me speak about my experiences in Ukraine. There was a heartfelt applause from the audience but given the nature of the moment it made me feel out of sorts and uncomfortable.
The Latvian TV National News was filming and reporting, so I felt it was important to spell out what is really happening and the atrocities being inflicted by Russian troops on Ukrainian citizens, especially women and children. Now that I have the opportunity on national news, I’ve taken a few days to decompress a little. I have the ability to tell the story in public without falling apart and sobbing like has happened earlier on in the mission.
There are many stories that we have documented and through the proper channels will be told in due course. But, the story that most resonates for me and probably the entire Team is first arriving at the Budomierz border control crossing from Poland to Ukraine. A relatively quiet border in comparison to the frenetic main border crossing.
We pulled up to the Ukraine side and the border soldier guards approached us in their military fatigues and AK47’s drawn. They did their normal checks of our passports and manifest of our cargo and as they saw our transport vehicles had signs on them, “Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine” and flags of Latvia emblazoned on the side of the vans they were comforted in some small way.
We all got out of our vehicles to stretch our legs and breathe in the early morning fresh air. It was delightful knowing we had safely made the 13-hour journey through Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and here now in Ukraine. One of the border guards started telling us a story that he and his colleagues witnessed only 30 minutes earlier. As he started telling the story his eyes started to get glassy and eventually he could no longer hide back his tears.
A larger GreyHound type bus full of Ukrainian children both boys and girls ages 8–15 years-old, were being transported to a medical facility in Poland. The girls some as young as 10 years-old were all systematically raped and the boys all had their teeth smashed in by the butts of the Russian soldier’s rifles. Some of the boys even had their teeth yanked out with pliers.
I told the story though a couple of times I had to pause and catch my breath. Even now sitting on the plane as I write this I find myself getting emotional but at the same time angry to the point of making my blood boil. I cannot call these men soldiers only thugs and demonic thugs. When I think of a real soldier I think of someone like my father who served in Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force and other friends and colleagues who have served in the Armed Forces of many countries. But these Russian thugs… raping, humiliating, brutalizing, destroying the very fabric of a child's innocence. In a moment of barbarity this callous and cowardly act of brutal violence will be etched into these children’s souls for the rest of their lives. It will take months if not years to help them through this traumatic trauma to not only trust but to feel loved.
The Team — we are all trying to process these moments of absolute sickening madness in our own way. To be honest I’m not really sure I can process it. How is one? I don’t know.
On a side note we have been speaking with the families and other Ukrainian citizens we rescued to check on how they are doing and adjusting to their new surroundings. Some had lost everything, their homes, even their entire towns were destroyed. Victoria told us her and her sister Ilina and children were happy that they could simply wake up to the sounds of the birds chirping rather than bombs exploding all around them.
Arseny 11-year-old son asked her mother, “Why are they helping us, why are they doing this, why are they so nice to us?”
Arseny has been traumatized from things he witnessed. He witnessed death, neighbors and friend’s homes pulverized, ‘Russian Thugs’ threatening and humiliating his mother, guns prodded in his face threatening to kill him and his 7-month-old brother Timur. It will take time, patience, lots of care and most of all love. As for me, they will forever be permanently etched in my memory. I pray for their full recovery and eventually, when the war stops and the dust settles they will be able to return to their beautiful motherland and begin to rebuild their lives. For the innocent children of Ukraine.
WeCanSaveChildren.org — Donations now being accepted and are directly going to humanitarian aid for the citizens and children of Ukraine
Vincent Lyn
CEO/Founder at We Can Save Children
International Human Rights Commission
Director of Creative Development at African Views Organization
Economic & Social Council at United Nations
Middle East Correspondent at Wall Street News Agency
Rescue & Recovery Specialist at International Confederation of Police & Security Experts