A spotlight on one of the 'great tragedies' of the Ukraine War: Lord McConnell reviews: 'After the Rain: Putin’s Stolen Children Come Home'

Seven-year-old Sasha Mezhevoy embraces therapist Inna Sidoruk after her return from Russia

Lord McConnell

@LordMcConnell

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, 19,546 Ukrainian children have been abducted from their families by the Russian state. Only a few hundred have ever been returned. With the war once again hanging in the balance, After the Rain provides fresh insight into the heartbreaking human cost of the invasion and the resilience of the Ukrainian people.

At the heart of this beautiful and captivating film are two children – Sasha Mezhevoy, aged seven, and Veronika Vlasova, aged 14 – rescued from Russian institutions after being kidnapped from their families. It focuses on their recovery at an animal therapy retreat in Estonia in an account so rich in humour, compassion, and catharsis that it becomes easy to forget their stories are the reason the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.

Huge credit is due here to director Sarah McCarthy for balancing the necessary telling of their stories, whilst staying sensitive to the fact that these are two young, vulnerable children. A magnificent supporting cast – in the form of the children’s families and therapists – are able to explore some of the weightier topics of loss, cruelty and uncertainty, with the children allowed time and space to come to terms with their own experiences.

I was privileged recently to host an advance screening of After the Rain in Parliament. It’s an emotional watch, and I cried often. But it was also inspiring and I was fortunate to chair a panel discussion afterwards with McCarthy as well as the executive producer Maria Logan, Inna Yehorova from the Ukrainian Embassy, and Inna Sidoruk, an animal therapist featured in the film whose care for the children had a profound impact on their recovery.

It’s an emotional watch, and I cried often

Our conversation brought home how, for all the hope brought by Sasha and Veronika’s return, the situation for the remaining kidnapped children is worsening. The Russian state is cracking down on the secret networks within Russia that help free children like Sasha and Veronika. Tales of mistreatment and forced Russification are coming from those kids who are able to get messages home. And more abductions are taking place.

Now Ukraine’s fate is back at the top of the international agenda, raising awareness of the kidnapped children becomes more critical than ever – especially with President-elect Donald Trump promising to end the war “within 24 hours”.

To spread this message, After the Rain is in the middle of a tour of European parliaments, before heading to the US. Already listed as an Oscar contender, the hope is that it will gain traction with more and bigger screenings globally and gain the recognition it, and its subjects, so richly deserve.

I’d therefore urge colleagues in Parliament and more widely to seek out or organise a screening of this incredible film for yourselves. At a time of widening and worsening conflicts worldwide, its sensitivity, warmth, and poignancy remind us just how important it is that we continue to stick up for those who need us most. 

Lord McConnell is a Labour peer

After the Rain: Putin’s Stolen Children Come Home
Directed & produced by: Sarah McCarthy
Venue: UK premiere 16 December, Bertha DocHouse, Curzon Bloomsbury

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