Ep. 60 - Russia’s Abducted Children: The 20,000 Teddy Bear Protest w/Julian Hayda & Katya Pavlevych

How do you make people truly understand the scale of Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children?

In this episode of Peace and Power Ukraine, host Gary Marx is joined by Julian Hayda, Associate Director of Public Engagement at Razom for Ukraine, and Katya Pavlevych, Advisor on Children’s Issues at Razom for Ukraine and policy advisor with the American Coalition for Ukraine, for a powerful discussion about Russia’s forced deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children.

The conversation centers around Razom’s massive National Mall installation featuring 20,000 teddy bears — each representing a Ukrainian child abducted by Russia since the full-scale invasion began. The guests explain how the exhibit was designed, assembled, and displayed directly in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol to force public attention back onto the issue.

Major topics include:

• The 20,000 teddy bear installation on the National Mall
• Russia’s abduction and indoctrination of Ukrainian children
• Why the issue became central to Putin’s war crimes accusations
• The challenges of documenting abducted children safely
• Melania Trump’s involvement in advocating for returned children
• Congressional attention and new U.S. funding initiatives
• Rehabilitation efforts for returned children
• Historical parallels between past and present Russian policies
• Why the guests believe the war cannot truly end until the children return

The episode also explores the emotional and psychological dimension of the issue, including how volunteers spent hundreds of hours assembling the installation and why the campaign resonated so deeply with both Ukrainian-Americans and broader American audiences.

Hayda and Pavlevych discuss the difficulty of communicating a crime that is often invisible to the public eye, especially when many children’s identities must remain protected to avoid jeopardizing rescue operations.

The conversation closes with a broader reflection on freedom, self-determination, family, and why both guests believe the issue of abducted children sits at the moral center of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

00:00 — “The war is not over until the kids come home”
00:19 — Intro + the abducted children crisis
01:10 — Meet Julian Hayda and Katya Pavlevych
02:09 — The 20,000 teddy bear installation explained
03:42 — Why Razom created the display
06:07 — Media coverage and public reaction
07:13 — The message behind the installation
08:22 — Putin, war crimes, and abducted children
10:09 — Why the issue faded from public attention
12:28 — Melania Trump’s involvement in the issue
15:29 — Children reunited with families after years
17:27 — Stories of abducted Ukrainian children
20:02 — Why the guests call it cultural annihilation
21:14 — Plans to take the installation nationwide
23:29 — Volunteers and assembling 20,000 teddy bears
25:00 — U.S. funding for abducted children programs
28:36 — Why Julian Hayda joined the fight
31:27 — Katya Pavlevych’s personal story
34:11 — Final thoughts + “How can you not be involved?”

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