“Father Roma”

“It was a tough choice to make. The hardest in my life,” Roman Korniiko, a 57-year-old pastor of the Protestant church “Dim Ottsia Nebesnoho” [“Heavenly Father’s Church”] is quoted by the Fakty newspaper. A report about a pastor’s heroic deed of taking 157 orphan children from near Kyiv to a safe place at the beginning of the Russian invasion was published in the newspaper in the early summer of 2022. Yet a few months later, there were suspicions that this pastor may be involved in the sale of two orphans to a married couple from the USA. These children are brothers who had been staying in the orphanage near Kyiv for six years and were evacuated to Germany at the beginning of the Russian invasion.

Generally, dozens of orphanages from dangerous territories of Ukraine have been evacuated abroad since February 2022. Although in the two recent years, children have gradually been returning home, as of autumn 2024, about 2,000 orphans from specialized institutions were abroad. During such an extended period, children get used to new conditions, and the issue of their going home gets complicated by different circumstances.

NGL.media discovered a case when the evacuation of children and their actual rescue from the war turned into their kidnapping.

This investigation was made possible thanks NGL.media community members who have access to special content and opportunities.

Part 1. Kyiv – Freiburg. The children from Ukrainian orphanages are taken to Germany together with their teachers and a pastor

A cold and ominous night of February 25, 2022, the second day of the Russian full-scale invasion. Enemy tanks are moving closer to Kyiv, and there are sounds of explosions and the howling of air-raid sirens. The residents of the capital and the surrounding towns and villages start their massive evacuation to the west. The least protected citizens, including children of the orphanages, are taken from the dangerous zones of the country.

Buses, full of children from the orphanages, leave Sviatopetrivske, a village near Kyiv. There are two orphanages in this village, both have the same name “Otchyi dim” [“Father’s House”], but legally one of them is subordinate to the Bilohorodka village council і a municipal institution “The Centre for Social Support and Child’s Development “Otchyi Dim” , and the other – to the Kyiv regional council і The Kyiv regional centre for social and psychological rehabilitation of children “Otchyi Dim” . 

The building of the regional orphanage belongs to the charitable organization of the same name, “The International Charitable Foundation “Otchyi Dim” (hereinafter in the text ICF “Father’s House”), which, in cooperation with its German partner S’Einlädele і a charitable Christian organization took care of the children. S’Einlädele is based in Freiburg і a city in the south-west of Germany , so that’s where the children from the “Father’s House” were brought after the beginning of the Russian invasion. 

On this trip, the children were accompanied by Roman Korniiko, the head of the ICF “Father’s House” and the pastor of the Evangelist church “Heavenly Father’s House”, Hanna Kuptsova, the director of the municipal orphanage of the Bilohorodka village council, and some teachers of the same institution. Oksana Lukina, the director of the regional orphanage, abandoned the orphans and left for Moldova instead і This has become clear from the materials of the criminal case, later initiated by the Kyiv police . 

After coming to Freiburg, all children were registered with the Ukrainian general consulate in Munich and the local Freiburg office of children’s services і Stadt Freiburg im Breisgau Amt fur Kinder, Jugend und Familie Kommunaler Soziale Dienst  – all the requirements of the official procedure were met. All the children were placed into four camps together with their Ukrainian teachers and Roman Korniiko. In fact, the children were meant to stay in those camps until it would be safe for them to return.

In late May 2022, Larysa Krupina, a journalist for Fakty, the Ukrainian newspaper, came to one of these camps. She spoke to Roman Korniiko, who described a difficult trip from Ukraine to Germany in fine detail, and told how nicely the children were welcomed in Freiburg and with how much care the residents treated them.

Roman Korniiko in Freiburg, together with the orphans from “Father’s House” (a photo of Fakty newspaper)

Having been inspired by a touching story, the journalist wrote a large report, in which she told everything she had heard from the pastor, who, in her words, was tenderly called “Father Roma” by the children. 

Among these children, there were two brothers Zh. – 12-year-old Nikita and 9-year-old David і NGL.media doesn’t disclose the children’s surname due to ethical reasons . After their mother’s death, they spent almost their entire conscientious life in “Father’s House” і The father of the boys died in 2018 .

Part 2. In search of providence. A married couple from the USA decides to take two Ukrainian children to their home

June 2022. Ronnie Mosley, an American blogger і Ronnie Mosley is writing a Christian blog, “Capturing Grace”, in which he describes the stories of orphanages, the life of orphans, and the support for such children around the world , came to Freiburg, visited the Ukrainian children and talked to Roman Korniiko. Thanks to his publication, it became known that at that moment, an American couple, Betsy and Stewart Jinn, was living with the children in one of the camps. 

An American, Betsy Jinn, with Nikita and David Zh., whose faces are blurred, and her own two children (a photo by Ronnie Mosley)

An interior designer, Betsy Jinn, came to Freiburg together with her husband and their two children from the small town of Encinitas, San Diego County (California). She told Ronnie Mosley that in her local Protestant church, she had heard a story about Ukrainian orphans, brought to Germany. In her words, the pastor of the “Light Church” told about 12-year-old Nikita and 9-year-old David Zh. – and she couldn’t stop thinking about these children.

“During her morning devotions, she usually opened her Bible and let God direct her gaze at the lines which He would like her to read. Day after day, these lines contained evident references to God’s plan for her to adopt Nikita and David,” said Ronnie Mosley.

So, at some moment, Betsy contacted the Ukrainian orphanage “Father’s House” via the pastor of the “Light Church” to find out how she and her husband could take brothers Zh. in their care. In Mosley’s words, they were told that it was impossible since Nikita and David had refugee status in Germany. However, even if the boys came back to Ukraine, they would still not be subject to adoption or care of the American couple because the government suspended this option at the beginning of the full-scale war.

Despite the impossibility of legal adoption of Nikita and David, the Americans still flew to Freiburg and settled in the camp for children, moved from Ukraine. As of the moment of Mosley’s visit, Betsy and Stewart Jinn had been living together with Nikita and David in the camp for several weeks, “hoping that the Lord would show them the way for adoption”. 

Part 3. The Americans succeeded in taking the children out, the Ukrainians suspect that the money was involved

January 2023, more than half a year since Ronnie Mosley’s visit. Brothers Zh. left Germany together with Betsy Jinn, the American. However, it became known only three months later, when Yevhenia Okhrimenko, the newly appointed acting head of the regional children’s centre “Father’s House”, flew to Freiburg і She was appointed in April 2023 after Oksana Lukina, the previous director of the orphanage, who lived in Moldova, had finally left her job . It was Yevhenia Okhrimenko who discovered the absence of two brothers Zh. and found out that they had been taken to the USA. How was it possible?

Unfortunately, Yevhenia Okhrimenko doesn’t want to share details about her visit to Freiburg. In December 2023, she left her job. Yet, after her return, she registered a claim with the police about the disappearance of two children from the orphanage during the evacuation. On May 12, 2023, the Kyiv police started the criminal proceedings according to Part 3 of Art. 149 CC (human trafficking) and Part 4 of Art. 358 CC (forgery) and the official investigation into the circumstances of the disappearance of brothers Zh.

58-year-old Roman Korniiko and 55-year-old Hanna Kuptsova, the persons under this investigation, refused to talk to NGL.media. However, later, Hanna Kuptsova authorized her attorney to give our editorial office the screenshots of her conversations with Yevhenia Okhrimenko, who had reported the disappearance of David and Nikita Zh. It is clear from these messages that in May 2023, Kuptsova flew to San Diego personally and met the Jinns there. Yevhenia Okhrimenko joined this meeting online as well. It is unclear what they were talking about in this meeting, but since then, the Americans stopped getting in touch.

Some court resolutions in this case are published in the Ukrainian state register, which allowed us to find out some details. For instance, it was revealed that the Freiburg office in children’s services allowed these children to go to the USA because it had received a forged letter with the relevant request from the office in children’s services of the Kyiv regional military administration.

Also, the investigators claim that Roman Korniiko and Hanna Kuptsova received USD 30 thousand from the Americans for the possibility of taking both orphans to the USA. Their personal accounts and the accounts of the ICF “Father’s House” are under investigation now to find this money.

“It was established by the pretrial investigation institution that the employees of the children’s centre had given the mentioned children for the payment in the amount of USD 30,000 to the persons, not identified by the pretrial investigation institution, who, in their turn, brought these children to the United States of America, where they are kept by the local residents, in particular, the preliminary data demonstrated that the abovementioned brothers Zh. crossed the border of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States of America being accompanied by a citizen of the USA,” says one of the court resolutions.

Actually, these two issues — forgery and receiving money for the children’s departure — have become the foundation for the official investigation in Ukraine. However, the investigation is ongoing, time is passing, and the probability of returning brothers to Ukraine is becoming ever more unlikely.

Part 4. Betsy Jinn is trying to become a legal guardian of the orphans via a court in San Diego

48-year-old Betsy Jinn, her 49-year-old husband Stewart, and their two children live in the town of Encinitas near San Diego in California. This is where she brought brothers Zh. in January 2023. Now, in the Superior Court of California in San Diego County, Betsy and Stewart і Superior Court of California, County of San Diego  are trying to establish permanent custody over 15-year-old Nikita and 12-year-old David.

A fragment from the request for custody, which was filed by Betsy Jinn with the Superior Court of California in San Diego county (photo by NGL.media)

There are no materials on this case available online, so NGL.media contacted a Ukrainian lady, living in San Diego, with the request to review them personally in the court building. This is how we received the copies of the court documents, including the statement of Betsy Jinn in which she is asking for custody, which states that the elder brother was diagnosed with serious illness from birth.

In the same claim filed with the court, Betsy Jinn tells the story of how she found out about two Ukrainian orphans in Freiburg. To take these children to the USA, they were given student visas, and now they seem to be going to the local school. 

“The employees of the Ukrainian orphanage contacted our Light Church in San Diego and asked us to sponsor the children who needed it the most. Due to the health condition of the boys, they were among the children, whose sponsorship was sought. Stewart and I took them in our care. The boys go to school in San Diego according to their student visas”, the request for custody reads.

At present, the court rejected the request of the Jinns for the custody of Ukrainian boys, but this is not the final decision yet.

Part 5. Roman Korniiko moves to the USA and denies all the suspicions

Despite the refusal of Roman Korniiko to communicate, one of his attorneys, Oleksii Konovalenko, sent NGL.media an official position of the charitable organization ICF “Father’s House” which denied the receipt of USD 30,000 for organizing the children’s departure abroad.

“We don’t have any evidence proving that anyone from our charitable organization or municipal institution received USD 30 thousand (or any other amount) for the departure of two children to the USA. The charitable organization did not receive any donations or charitable contributions from this family either,” reads the message.

ICF “Father’s House” believes the reason for taking two orphans to the USA is the inadequate health condition of the boys. “The reason why two brothers went from the FRG to the USA is their health status, difficult living conditions in Freiburg (due to which their state deteriorated), and a potential likelihood of infecting other children/teachers. These reasons were totally valid; we learned about them from the teachers who were in that place. We would not want to talk about the medical reasons for this departure in more detail but if the police extracted the brothers’ case histories from the hospitals — they do know about it,” a report from ICF “Father’s House” reads.

This position seems to be rather controversial because although the illness diagnosed in one of the brothers, is incurable, it is subject to supporting therapy both in Ukraine and in Germany. Besides, previously, it was Roman Korniiko himself who spoke well about the living conditions of the children in Freiburg. Therefore, NGL.media sent inquiries to clarify the reasons for the children’s departure to the USA. This time, we received a reply from Olha Veretilnyk, one more attorney of Pastor Korniiko.

“Since the stocks of the medicine, brought from Ukraine, were running low, they went to the emergency department. The latter offered them to list the [older] boy with the experimental group for testing some novel medical preparation. The guardian і one of the orphanage teachers, evacuated together with the children, the status of the guardian is appointed only for the duration of the children’s stay beyond Ukraine’s borders  didn’t dare risk the life and already poor health of the child. Then, he was prescribed the analogue of the medicine he used to take in Ukraine, but it didn’t go well. He began to fade before our eyes, lost his appetite, and started losing interest in life,” Olha Veretilnyk claimed. “The case history of the younger brother described the open TB form, which he managed to fight, but in conditions of a weakened organism and in conditions in which the children lived at the beginning (in summer, the night temperature amounted to 36°С in the rooms of the module houses, the windows were open because unfortunately there was no ventilation and conditioning), they were afraid of the relapse […] The American family came periodically and helped the teachers in this group with their routine tasks as volunteers. They paid attention to the physical state of both brothers and suggested taking them for examination and treatment to the USA.”

Roman Korniiko still lives abroad. After the beginning of the official investigation in 2023, he removed all his profiles from the social networks. In spring 2024, Korniiko left the position of the head of the charitable organization, ICF “Father’s House”, which is governed by his daughter, Alina Oksenenko. Also, Korniiko is no longer the pastor of the “Heavenly Father’s Church” in Sviatopetrivske. Now, this Protestant community is led by Pavlo Reviuk, who told NGL.media that Roman Korniiko is living in the USA. Reviuk doesn’t know what Korniiko is doing there, because, in his words, he doesn’t communicate with Korniiko. The remaining orphans, taken by him to the German town of Freiburg, still remain there.

The criminal case, which started a year and a half ago, is still far from being completed. The investigators searched the premises of ICF “Father’s House”, confiscated their documents and money, and arrested them. Recently, the court ruled that the investigators had to consider the involvement of brothers Zh. as victims in the case. However, no suspicions have been announced yet, which may demonstrate the lack of evidence or a rather inactive investigation.

While preparing this material, NGL.media contacted the German police, including the local division, the Freiburg office of children’s services, and the German organization, S’Einlädele, which helped take the children from Ukraine, many times. We even asked our German colleagues to help us collect the necessary information. However, in months of our efforts, we haven’t obtained any valuable information, except for the formal reply about the non-disclosure of the criminal case data.

The office of children’s services at the Kyiv regional state military administration refused to comment on the case with brothers Zh., and in their written reply, they just reported their awareness about the situation and the fact that they had addressed all the relevant institutions.

At the same time, the secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, told NGL.media that they did not have any information about the case with brothers Zh.

Betsy Jinn, the American, and her attorney did not respond to the request of NGL.media regarding the comments.

At present, the Ukrainian justice system only managed to put brothers Zh. on the international wanted list as missing persons. However, it is not difficult to find them because their probable place of residence is known – it is the house of the Jinns, the address of which is available on the Internet, in the town of Encinitas, the state of California, the USA. 

Part 6. What should one know about the issue of child trafficking in Ukraine

Although the issue of child trafficking, including in orphanages, is regularly surfacing in the public media, it is still believed complicated to register and prove. In 2015, the Disability Rights International (DRI) published its report about violence suffered by children in Ukrainian orphanages, and inter alia, it mentioned these risks.

“Even the programmes with good intentions to help the children in Ukrainian orphanages can be easily used by child traffickers. The DRI talked to a family in the USA that hosted two children from the Ukrainian orphanage. The representative of the programme never checked the reputation and never visited the house of the hosts […], the children could have been taken to the house of a pedophile, a human trafficker or the producer of children’s pornography,” reads the report of the DRI. 

This year, the US State Department published a new report about the problem of human trafficking, including Ukraine, which talks about the new risks regarding child trafficking. The document mentions the cases when the children of the orphanages, including those evacuated abroad, were exploited.

“During the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, the children from the state orphanages, many of whom were evacuated abroad […] are subject to especially high risk of human trafficking. The officials of several state orphanages were the accomplices in selling girls and boys in their care for sex and labour,” reads the report of the US State Department.

Possible risks for children who come to foreign families without the corresponding preliminary checks are also described by Kateryna Borozdina, the Vice-President of “La Strada-Ukraine”, the organization fighting human trafficking.

“Actually, foreigners may have no intention to get a child involved in any kind of exploitation, they really may want to adopt a child. But buying a child is a crime already. This crime is committed by sellers on the one hand and by buyers on the other. And the economic and social conditions, in which many Ukrainians live now, may trigger such illegal criminal actions,” Kateryna Borozdina said in the conversation with NGL.media. “However, no circumstances, including the war, may serve as an excuse for not holding the criminals accountable. Every criminal activity, including child trafficking, should be investigated and punished.”

Olha Lopushanska, the deputy director of the “Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health”, agrees with her colleague. “If everything is really as you describe it, then the procedure has been violated here; the children were actually kidnapped. So, the Ukrainian side has to bring them back. We cannot be sure that they are fine and do not suffer from any violence, exploitation, and so on,” Lopushanska believes. “So, there is no doubt that the Ukrainian side should bring them back, get everyone involved, and investigate the facts of this case. Because the issue of safety is crucial, it comes first.”

Meanwhile, the data of the National Social Service demonstrate that, officially, almost no cases of child trafficking are found in Ukraine; in the last two years, only three such cases have been registered. However, several Ukrainian officials from the field of children’s protection stated anonymously that, actually, these are not rare cases, but they could not provide us with any evidence or specific examples. If you are aware of any cases of child trafficking or any other violations regarding minors, and you are willing to talk about it (in public or anonymously), you can contact the author of the article at rodak@ngl.media.

The author Kateryna Rodak, editor Oleh Onysko, translation Nelya Plakhota, cover Viktoria Demchuk