Ukrainian Academy of Leadership has created a Europe-wide advocacy campaign in partnership with Bring Kids Back, Bickerstaff.734, and international partners, transforming public space into an active civic system demanding the return of Ukrainian children abducted during Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Titled “Burning Calls for Human Rights,” the campaign spans 14 European cities, where public installations of burned and charred telephones are appearing as a stark visual metaphor for severed connections between families and children taken from Ukraine.
At the center of each installation stands a single functioning phone — turning the artwork into an operational call-to-action. Visitors are invited to directly contact Members of the European Parliament and demand urgent political action: the unconditionaverifiedl return of abducted Ukrainian children must become a non-negotiable condition in any future peace negotiations and that international human rights organizations have immediate, unimpeded, and and that international human rights organizations such as OHCHR, UNICEF, and the ICRC, have immediate, unimpeded, and regular access to all deported, forcibly transferred , and remaining in occupation Ukrainian children.
A Crisis at Massive Scale
According to official Ukrainian data, more than 1.6 million Ukrainian children remain under Russian control — either deported, forcibly transferred, or stranded in temporarily occupied territories. Only 2,100 children have been returned.
A Yale University Humanitarian Research Lab report documents that many of these children are held in systems described as “re-education,” military training, and forced cultural assimilation — environments designed for long-term institutional control over minors.
International organizations, including the United Nations and leading human rights groups, have condemned these practices as potential crimes against humanity. However, advocates argue that global political action still does not match the urgency or scale of the crisis.
From Awareness to Activation
Rather than functioning as a traditional awareness campaign, “Hot Calls for Human Rights” is designed as a behavioral public intervention — where creative form becomes infrastructure for civic action.
The burned telephones represent broken lines of communication between families and children. The single working phone transforms spectators into participants, converting public attention into political pressure.
The mechanism is deliberately simple: see it, pick up, act.
Time Is Disappearing
“For us, this campaign is about responsibility and urgency,” said Yevheniia Mateichuk, Managing Director of the Ukrainian Leadership Academy.
“Behind every number is a child whose future is being taken away right now as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine — a systematic destruction of identity and rights. And this time is disappearing.
A phone call is a simple but critical act of not staying silent when time is running out. The return of Ukrainian children must become an unconditional requirement in any peace process. This is a shared responsibility of the democratic world.”
Designing Political Pressure Through Creativity
The campaign was developed by Bickerstaff for ULA with Bring Kids Back, translating a humanitarian crisis into a physical system of public engagement across Europe.
We believe deeply in this project because it reminds us of things that cannot be normalized. Russia is not just violating the rights of Ukrainian children — it is tearing them away from their homes, families, and language, and trying to destroy their sense of identity. The return of Ukrainian children must not a secondary issue, but a shared, unanimous position of the entire civilized world and a clear condition for any future peace agreements.,” said Vlad Minchev, Creative Lead at Bickerstaff.
“Russia is not only violating the rights of Ukrainian children — it is severing them from home, family, language, and identity. That is why we speak to European policymakers not in terms of sympathy, but in terms of responsibility and concrete action.
The return of Ukrainian children must not be a secondary issue or a wish — it should be a unified position of the democratic world and a clear condition for any future peace agreements.
This project matters because it turns moral clarity into political demand. In a world of grey, there must still be something unequivocal.”
Campaign Activation
“Hot Calls for Human Rights” is currently active across 14 European cities. Each installation invites direct civic participation through phone calls to Members of the European Parliament, urging immediate action on the return of abducted Ukrainian children.
Campaign message:
“Call for human rights before they’re out of reach.”
The event is implemented by the Ukrainian Leadership Academy with the support of the Government of Ukraine, the Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund, and the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PRFU), funded by aid from the governments of Canada, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
