US Senators unveil resolution condemning Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children
Illustrative photo: US senators call for the return of children abducted in Ukraine by Russia (Getty Images)
A group of US senators (representatives of the Republican and Democratic parties) presented a resolution calling for the mandatory return of all abducted Ukrainian children by Russia - before any agreement to end the war is concluded, according to a joint statement by US senators and the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andrii Yermak.
This is an initiative of a bipartisan group of US senators, initiated by Republican Chuck Grassley and Democrat Amy Klobuchar.
The resolution was also co-authored by Senators Roger Wicker, Joni Ernst, Rick Scott, Dick Durbin and John Fetterman, who represent both parties.
"Russia has kidnapped nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children to erase their cultural identity and heritage," reads the joint statement posted on Senator Grassley's website.
The resolution calls "to demand these children are returned before inking a deal to end the war in Ukraine."
The document condemns Russia's abduction and forced displacement of Ukrainian children and notes that the Russian invasion is increasingly exposing children to "human trafficking and exploitation, child labor, sexual violence, hunger, injury, trauma and death."
"The inhumane and unprovoked attack on Ukraine by (Russian dictator Vladimir) Putin has started the biggest war in Europe since World War II. He has kidnapped thousands of children to brainwash and Russify them in an effort to destroy their cultural identity and heritage. The United States must demand the return of these children before signing an agreement to end the war in Ukraine," Grassley emphasized.
In her turn, Senator Klobuchar noted that "the mass kidnapping of Ukrainian children by Russia is an atrocity".
"We cannot accept a world where children are abducted during wartime and used as a form of hostage-taking for negotiations. These children must be returned unconditionally before any peace deal is finalized," she emphasized.
Resolution's peculiarities, Ukrainian President's Office's reaction
Ostap Yarysh, media advisor at Razom for Ukraine, notes on his Facebook page that this is the first resolution in the Senate since Donald Trump came to power, supported by Republicans, calling for action on the negotiation process with Russia.
According to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Yermak, the resolution is an important signal from the United States.
"Abduction of children is not just a war crime. It is an attempt to erase our identity, to destroy the future of the nation. We will not allow this to happen. I am grateful to the senators for their support," the official said.
Russia's deportation of children from Ukraine
Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian occupiers have been actively abducting children and conducting illegal deportations. This has become a systematic practice.
In May, Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has deported over 19,500 children from Ukraine. He added that more than a thousand young Ukrainians had been returned home.
It was the deportation of Ukrainian children that led the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue an arrest warrant for Russia's Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova.
At the end of April, the Verkhovna Rada adopted as a basis a draft law on establishing liability for the illegal transfer and use of children for military purposes by a representative of a foreign state.
On May 8, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on abducted Ukrainian children.
