On October 27, the art installation “Empty Beds” opened in New York’s Little Ukraine neighborhood in Manhattan.
Spanning a full 100 feet, this mural displays photos of empty children’s beds, each a symbol of a Ukrainian child deported or forcibly transferred by Russian forces. The beds depicted in the mural once belonged to children who lived under occupation and experienced the brutal realities of Russian war crimes.
Thanks to coordinated efforts, many of these children are now safely back in Ukraine. But thousands remain in occupied territories or in Russia, separated from their families and their homeland.
Photographer Phil Buehler, in collaboration with the Bird of Light Foundation, created this mural to raise global awareness about Russia’s systematic abuse and coercion of Ukrainian children.
Among the stories shared in the mural is that of Rostyslav, a 17-year-old from Radensk, a village in the Kherson region that has been under occupation since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. When pressured to relinquish his Ukrainian citizenship for a Russian passport, Rostyslav refused. He was subsequently detained and tortured but later escaped back to Ukraine. His testimony on Russian crimes against children has since been shared before the U.S. Congress.
The “Empty Beds” installation is part of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, in cooperation with organizations such as Save Ukraine and the Ukrainian Child Rights Network.