US Senate to hold hearings on Russia's mass abductions of Ukrainian children
Photo: US Senate prepares hearings on mass abductions of Ukrainian children (Getty Images)
Hearings will be held in the United States Senate regarding Russia’s mass abductions of Ukrainian children, according to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak.
This step will be an important stage in exposing the war crimes Russia committed against Ukrainian children, including illegal relocation, militarization, and attempts to strip them of their Ukrainian identity.
Yermak specified that the hearings will take place in the US Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.
“Such initiatives strengthen international support for Ukraine and remind us that justice is inevitable. This is the result of systematic international advocacy within President Zelenskyy’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative, which made the issue of returning our children part of the global agenda,” the head of the President’s Office emphasized.
Preparation for the hearings in Washington is already underway. The head of the Presidential Office thanked Senators Lindsey Graham, Brian Schatz, American colleagues, and the US government for their leadership, consistency, and support in bringing all Ukrainian children back home.
Abductions of children
During the full-scale war, Russia has been massively abducting Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories.
According to Ukraine and international organizations, more than 19,000 cases of deportation have been documented, though the real number may be significantly higher.
Children are taken from orphanages, hospitals, and boarding schools, and are also separated from their families during so-called “filtration procedures.”
They are later sent to various regions of Russia, where they are often adopted by Russian families and forcibly granted Russian citizenship.
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that if Russia does not return all illegally deported Ukrainian children, he will initiate a bill to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.
In September, during a meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska reported that 1,625 children have been returned so far.
She noted that at the current pace, the process could take more than half a century.
The issue of the abduction of Ukrainian children also remains in the focus of the US First Lady Melania Trump.
On August 15, US President Donald Trump, ahead of the summit in Alaska, handed over a letter from his wife to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Melania Trump called on the Kremlin leader to protect children and “care for future generations around the world.”
Read more about how Russia steals and breaks Ukrainian children in the RBC-Ukraine report.
