After Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, some 20,000 Ukrainian children were forcefully

transferred to Russia. That's according to war crimes charges filed in the Hague last

year that named President Vladimir Putin and an

aid as the prime culprits.

So as the city of Mariopel in southern Ukraine was being surrounded by Russian troops,

the head of a Christian orphanage decided to take matters

into his own hands to get 19 children to safety. With support from the Pulitzer

Center, Special Correspondent Simon Ostofsky has this report.

This is Ganadi-Machnenko, an evangelical pastor from Murriupel.

He runs a charity called the Chaplains Battalion, staffed by evangelical ministers who were forced from their churches by Russian soldiers.

Before the war, Pastor Ganadi's ministry involved helping the homeless children from the streets of

Marie Uple, but now his job is bringing aid to soldiers and civilians along the front line.

Newshour met the pastor in the southern Zeparegia region, where danger from the sky is a constant

threat to his humanitarian work. Do you hear that buzz?

It flew near us then over the road.

Please stay in the kitchen.

They've just noticed a drone up in the sky, a Russian suicide drone.

So the soldiers here have asked us to stay inside so it doesn't see us.

This is the perfect moment for a chaplain's prayer.

Please, Lord, protect us from these enemy drones and make them fly away from here.

Bless these men.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

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