A BRAVE Ukrainian teenager who was kidnapped and shipped off to Russia has vowed to kill Putin in revenge for his horror ordeal.
Serhii Cherednichenko, 17, who was snatched by Putin’s thugs in the summer of 2022, had his legs smashed with a hammer and ankles bolted as he tried to escape.
6
6
6
6
One of the thousands of children kidnapped by Russians following the invasion of Ukraine, Serhii told The Sun how his ordeal came to an end when he successfully arrived at the border after being kept captive for months.
The teenager from Kharkiv recalls how he was approached by Russian soldiers in August 2022 and was forcibly taken to the town of Valuyki in the Belgorod region.
He was told he was an “orphan” and placed in a dormitory before he was moved to the town of Chernyanka.
Having to endure severe psychological pressure and brainwashing, Serhii started planning his escape.
After memorising the bus routes, Serhii managed to save enough money for a fare and got on a bus to the border – only to be sent back straight away.
Serhii, a professional footballer, repeated his attempt three times – until he succeeded – but not without a fight.
He told The Sun: “On the fourth time, they took me down to the basement at the checkpoint… they checked my phone for three hours.
“They found out that I was a football player. They hit my legs with a hammer, my ankles with a bolt…They held me for 4-5 hours.
“Then they took me out and said: ‘Go wherever you want’. I saw a yellow sign saying “Ukraine” and went in that direction.
“It was evening, it was raining, it was cold. I thought I was walking very fast but I wasn’t.
“When you walk through this ‘grey’ zone and turn back you don’t know what to expect, it’s scary… that was probably the scariest moment.
“When you walk and you don’t know if you’re going to lie down here or if you’re going to walk. Thank God, it happened like this.
“A Ukrainian border guard came out. I asked him to call my parents. I asked for a drink, my head was spinning.
“It was strange to realise that I had put so much effort and finally succeeded. At home.”
An investigation by The Sun into Ukraine’s missing children back in September 2022 revealed that thousands of children had been deported during Putin’s invasion.
In a sick bid to erase Ukrainian culture children are subjected to “information zombification” while being told they have been abandoned by their parents.
It is estimated over 20,000 Ukrainian children have been kidnapped since the start of the war, and sent them to become “Russified”.
RUSSIAN INVASION
Serhii, who has nine siblings, recalls the horrifying moment his family realised their country was being invaded as rockets were fired above their heads.
He said he will never forget the “frightened, uncertain” look on his dad’s face.
Describing the moment he was kidnapped, Serhii says he was forced to follow a group of Russian soldiers fearing he would end up in the “pit”.
The teen explains that the “pit” is a horrific tactic used by the Russian military where victims are forced to dig a trench of their height and sit in it.
Serhii says it was used to punish those who “answered wrong” – like his friend who had to spend four days in the pit after he was caught going home during curfew.
He told The Sun: “They [Russian military] approached me and asked: ‘Do you want to come with us?’
“I said ‘No!’ Then they asked me to put on their uniform.
“They gave me two magazines from an assault rifle. They put me in a truck and dropped me off in Valuyki.
“It is difficult to resist five huge men sitting above you, each of them with an assault rifle.
“You lose your pride and confidence, realising that your friend, for example, was put in the ‘pit’. I was afraid for myself.”
He was taken to Russia, where he was forced to attend the Valuyki Industrial College and lived in the dormitories – after he refused to be placed in a Russian family.
Serhii spent four months there before he was moved to Chernyanka alongside other Ukrainians – some of whom were “transported silently, some others were forced”.
Serhii recalls constantly being told by the college staff that he was “rescued by the Nazis” after Ukrainians repeatedly refused to sing Russia’s national anthem.
He says the mental pressure became too much for some Ukrainians – especially those who had lost their loved ones in the war – alongside promises for a “better life”.
After six months Serhii started to become desperate to come home, fearing he would never see his family again.
“On New Year’s Eve 2022, I was already in Chernyanka watching Zelenskyy on YouTube, his address to Ukrainians,” he said.
“What thoughts can you have when you are sitting alone in a dorm in another country? There is no way to see your family, your sister.”
I hope I’ll see Putin someday – I’ll kill him instantly
Serhii was able to be reunited with his parents after six months – and he was so relieved to be back home he couldn’t utter a word.
He told The Sun: “I had a feeling that I wanted to be silent and to tell everything at the same time.
“I experienced many feelings in one second. As a result, we were just silent for half the journey.”
The teen is thrilled to be back in Ukraine and has returned to playing football while he’s training as a welder in Poltava.
Thinking of others who have also been kidnapped by Russia, Serhii acknowledges it’s “very hard mentally, especially for a child”
But he urged them not to lose hope.
“You are under a lot of pressure, ” he said.
“You just have to believe that we will help you, we will take you back.
“No one will ever forget about any child here.
“Everyone will be returned.”
The teenager is eager to join the Ukrainian Army when he’s 18 – in four months – and vows to take revenge.
Sending a message to Putin, the teen said: “There will be revenge, and it will be served cold.
“Life is such that everything comes around. I hope he will receive what he’s brought to the world.
“I’ve never said this to anyone before – I hope it [Putin] dies a dog’s death, his children suffer just like him, and let him f*****g burn in hell.
“I hope I’ll see him someday. I’ll kill him instantly.”
6
6
