20,000 teddy bears blanketed the California Capitol Monday. Why they were there

Twenty thousand teddy bears filled the west steps of the state Capitol on Monday — each placed to represent a Ukrainian child who has been deported, forcibly transferred, or separated from family during Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The installation, called “Bring Kids Back,” made its Sacramento debut as part of an ongoing campaign to draw attention to the thousands of children and support international efforts for their return. It was displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and in Los Angeles earlier this year.

“I think everybody can agree that stealing children is an atrocity and should not be happening in this day and age,” said Aleksandr Krapivkin, director of advocacy and engagement at Nova Ukraine and one of the event moderators. “If we don’t want this to ever happen again — not only in Ukraine, but … to any nation, then we have to take action now.”

The focal point of the installation were the teddy bears, which hung from fence panels and formed the message “Putin abducted 20,000 Ukrainian children. Bring Kids Back.”

Attendees heard speeches; the American and Ukrainian national anthems; traditional Ukrainian music; and prayers. They chanted “Bring them home” and held signs with messages such as “Every child belongs at home” and “Child abduction is a crime.”

The Sunflower Society organized the event in partnership with Razom for Ukraine — which founded the “Bring Kids Back” project — and several other sponsors.

Sunflower Society member Olga Noshyn summarized the goal of the installation as “to be as loud as possible, so this problem cannot be ignored anymore.”

“It’s very hard to imagine going through something like that,” she said of Ukrainian parents whose children were taken by Russia, “but if you have your own kids, and you see another mother who lost her kids — and they’re not dead, they are stolen — you cannot just sit and do nothing.”

Noshyn said a friend of hers is on the Ukrainian front. Monday, she said, he hid from a Russian drone in the bushes.

“This is his reality, and mine is this installation at the Capitol,” she said. “He’s … literally fighting for Ukraine, and I’m here trying to fight for Ukraine, not physically, but on the information field.”

She and Krapivkin spoke of their desire to inform the American public about the Russia’s war in Ukraine, especially its abduction of Ukrainian children. Many people around them, they said, lack awareness about the overseas conflict.

Twenty thousand is the number of children Ukrainian authorities have identified. Independent investigators estimate the actual number may be as high as 200,000 or 300,000, according to the event organizers. Russia claims to have “relocated” hundreds of thousands, and roughly 2,000 children have been successfully returned to Ukraine.

These children are often separated from their families, put into military camps, and told to forget their Ukrainian heritage, said event organizers. They claimed this indoctrination amounts to genocide. Noshyn described Russia’s actions as “an attempt to not let Ukraine have another generation of Ukrainians.”

Dmytro Kushneruk, the San Francisco consulate general of Ukraine, said the issue is of enormous importance, not just for Ukraine, but the whole international community.

“Every child has a right to know their family,” he said to the crowd. “Every child has a right to speak their own language. And every child has the right to grow up in their own country, free from fear, free from violence and forced assimilation.”

For many volunteers and attendees, the event held personal significance. Sacramento is home to the largest Ukrainian population in California and one of the largest in the entire U.S.

Ukrainian volunteer Anna Shyshlevska moved to the U.S. just under three years ago. She is 19, with a younger sister.

“I don’t want any child, of my sister’s age, of my age, to be away from home,” she said. “I’m away from home myself right now, and sometimes it feels horrible. Knowing that some children are there on the aggressor’s side and their identities are erased … just breaks my heart.”

Shyshlevska said her goal was to bring awareness to the Ukrainian children whom Russia abducted and remind people the war is ongoing through the “Bring Kids Back” installation.

Russians were among the volunteers at the event. Theodore Shiko, a volunteer with the Sunflower Society, moved to the U.S. from Russia three years ago.

“I have to do something,” he said. “This is my form of protest against my Russian government.”

Alison Magallon spoke at the event. Her son, Jericho, was one of the first foreign volunteers to travel to Ukraine and died in the war.

“He said, ‘Mom, what I’ve witnessed on the news … it’s like watching a bunch of bullies beating up someone in the playground, and no one’s defending them,’” Magallon recalled. She explained it was not the specific country, but the injustice, that called him to action.

Less than two weeks after the Russian invasion, her son — who served four years in the U.S. military — flew to Warsaw and hitchhiked to Ukraine. She said he worked for several aid organizations before joining the Ukrainian Special Forces and dying on the battlefield.

The speakers repeatedly called on the audience to take action for Ukraine — especially to contact their senators and advocate for the passage of the Ukrainian Support Act, or HR 2913, which would provide $8 billion in military financing and $1 billion in reconstruction aid to Ukraine.

“At this low point for Americans, where they don’t believe that their voices matter, I am here to remind them, and we are here to remind them, that every single voice does matter,” Krapivkin said.

Krapivkin challenged attendees to support Ukraine in their daily lives. “What are we doing on a daily basis … to put an end to the suffering, to all of this? If the answer is nothing, then I think there’s a reckoning for all of us.”

U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, who is running for the 6th Congressional District as an independent after being elected twice to his seat as a Republican, called for resistance to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We have to do everything we possibly can to assure that this conflict is brought to an end, that the suffering stops, that Putin is deterred from further aggression, and that these kids can come home,” he said.

Former Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg also spoke about resisting injustice.

“You don’t have to have a title to stand up for what’s right. You don’t have to have a title to speak against injustice. You don’t have to have a title to call out war crimes.”

This story was originally published July 7, 2026 at 7:00 AM.