In the spring of last year, a Ukrainian family fled Russia’s war of aggression to Finland.
The family first lived in reception centers, but this year the mother, two children and their grandfather moved to Jyväskylä to a small two-room apartment.
In March of this year, my mother went to the grocery store by bus. Grandpa went on a shopping trip to help with carrying. The elementary school-age children stayed at home alone.
When mother and grandfather returned from the store, the children were gone.
The checkered paper left in the hall read a phone number and the word social and crisis emergency in Finnish.
Concerned about the family, the child protection authorities of the Central Finland welfare area had arrived at the apartment unannounced and found the children at home alone. They made an urgent investment decision. The children were taken from home for 30 days to the child protection unit.
Soon the woman’s story began to spread in the Russian media. Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN also spoke about it Dmitry Polyansky. According to him, the Finnish authorities had kidnapped the children on false grounds.
‘s MOT department and Novosti found out what had happened. The article can also be read in Russian. We are not releasing the mother’s name to protect the family’s privacy.
Russia said Europe was stealing children
Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitri Polyansky, wrote about the case of the Ukrainian mother on Twitter only a month after the events.
Poljanski claimed that Finnish child protection authorities had taken the children to a shelter for possible adoption. He said that the children live in the shelter in bad conditions, are malnourished and are treated harmfully.
Poljanski asked to spread the message as widely as possible so that “citizens and the media in Finland and Europe learn the truth”. Along with the message, he added the hashtag #EuropeStealsChildren (Europe steals children).
According to Poljanski, “child thefts” have taken place not only in Finland but also in Germany, Portugal and Spain. According to him, however, Russia knows of hundreds of Ukrainians suffering from the situation in Europe.
Poljanski also spoke on the subject at an informal meeting of the UN Security Council in April. The Russians presented a video at the eventwho, according to them, had interviewed Ukrainian mothers whose children were covered by child protection services in various parts of Europe.
Who spread the story to the Russian media?
After the placement of the children, a Ukrainian woman living in Finland was desperately looking for help. She feared that she had lost the children permanently.
Mother is from Mariupol, Ukraine and speaks better Russian than Ukrainian.
At the urging of his friends, he ended up contacting a stranger to Johan Bäckman. Bäckman has previously told the Russian media a narrative according to which child protection in Finland would arbitrarily take children into custody. According to the mother, Bäckman did not have time to help her.
The mother was also in contact with the Ukrainian Embassy in Finland. The ambassador of Ukraine confirms the contact with by email, but cannot comment further on the case.
– He has been given all the necessary information about Finnish legislation and advised how to proceed in the matter, says the ambassador.
In the end, the mother ended up approaching the Russian embassy by e-mail as well. The mother told her story to an employee of the embassy, but the embassy did not offer her direct help because the woman is not Russian. Instead, he was given the contact information of a Russian-born lawyer working in Finland. This is on the embassy’s list of lawyers that Russians should use in Finland.
The mother suspects that the lawyer spread her story to the Russian media.
The lawyer commented to by email that he has not disclosed information about the mother to the media. In his email, he emphasizes that the Finnish authorities do not take children away from their parents without reason.
– The family wanted to tell their story to everyone, to attract attention, so that society would react to it in some way, the lawyer writes.
Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Poljanski, has written on Twitter that he received a request from the mother to talk about the case.
However, the mother tells that she has not given permission to spread her personal information publicly. The mother now understands that Russia used her as a tool for its propaganda.
– I didn’t know who to turn to, so I had to find someone. I knew I shouldn’t accept help from the Russian side, says the mother.
also asked the Russian embassy if the embassy passed on the mother’s story. Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN and the Russian embassy have not responded to ‘s interview requests.
Now the mother’s case is handled by a Finnish lawyer.
Sandwiches and apples had been left at home for the children
Why were the mother’s children urgently placed?
Child protection and the mother’s views on the course of events differ a lot.
In addition to the mother’s story, has found out the details of the story from documents, phone recordings and by interviewing those who followed the case closely.
The mother strongly criticizes the activities of child protection. Neither his nor the children’s opinions were heard when the urgent investment decision was made.
According to the placement decision, hearing the mother would have prolonged the situation and endangered the children’s safety. According to the decision, the mother had left the children alone for at least a whole day, and this was not the first time. The statement is based on what the children told the authorities through an interpreter.
According to the mother, he was on a shopping trip for a couple of hours and left ready-to-eat food for the children at home.
The placement decision confirms that sandwiches and apples had been left for the children. Instead, there were no toys to be seen and it was difficult to find clothes suitable for children. According to the mother, the family had just moved and the toys had been left in the old apartment.
The authorities considered that the mother had abandoned the children and that their well-being had been seriously endangered.
According to the decision, the children had not participated in schooling or early childhood education. The mother explains this by, among other things, the children being sick. According to him, the goal has always been for the children to go to school.
Mother and children now live in a family support home
Service director of child protection in the Central Finland welfare area Maria Lehtinen does not comment on individual cases to .
Lehtinen regrets the publicity and false information the case has received.
– When in that (Russian) case there were various accusations of ill-treatment or that children would be given up for adoption by child protection, then such a thing is not possible based on Finnish child protection legislation. In Finland, the Child Protection Act is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
When child protection comes to the scene in a case like this, do we wait for the mother to come back, or do we go immediately to take the children?
– This is case-specific and also to be kept secret, Lehtinen answers.
According to documents seen by , child protection became concerned about the family based on the child protection notice. The authorities were worried about the mother’s mental health and ability to cope. For example, he had not arrived at the arranged meeting.
When the mother could not be contacted, it was decided to make an unannounced home visit.
The mother says that she and the children had to experience hell on earth in Mariupol. According to the mother, the children’s father died in the war, but the man had not participated much in the family’s life. has not been able to confirm the information.
Currently, the mother lives with her children in a family support home. She moved there with her children after the children had been placed for 30 days. The purpose of the family support home is, for example, to support a parent who cannot take care of their children sufficiently.
– It’s like a prison here. They watch me everywhere and won’t even let me into the store alone. The control is perfect, says the mother.
The mother has previously criticized the authorities about the children’s medication and feeding during the placement. According to him, the activities of child protection have caused fear and anxiety in the family.
Lack of information increases fear
Population Union With Anita Novitsky has long experience in multicultural child protection work. He is familiar with the case of the Ukrainian family, but comments on the subject on a general level.
In Novitsky’s opinion, the child protection authorities could often handle things much better, even if the case is about genuine concern.
So it’s about a certain kind of eye for the game in a sensitive situation.
– When people come from a crisis area, the authority here always assumes that his message is reliable for the customer. But these people do not trust the authorities.
Problems arise when the family lacks information and support and starts looking for information online in Russian. This causes more worry and fear.
– The longer the delay in contacting the authorities, for example until the next business day, the more mess it causes.
A Ukrainian mother and her friends searched for information on the Internet and from acquaintances when her child was placed. He was disappointed with the help he received from the Russians, but he would never have turned to them if he had not first lost his trust in the Finnish authorities.
– We didn’t know anything and we were scared. Should the mother just sit quietly and wait idly while the children are taken away, the mother asks.
The mother still does not understand why she has to be with her children in the family home. She says she has always managed with her children alone.
– If we had known this, we would not have come here (to Finland). We all suffer a lot. I don’t know how we’ll ever get out of here.