On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of US senators unveiled a resolution urging the immediate return of all kidnapped Ukrainian children before any peace agreement is signed to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
This issue is central to international arrest warrants for war crimes against key Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin.
The resolution is led by Senators Chuck Grassley (Republican, Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (Democrat, Minnesota), with five bipartisan co-sponsors: Joni Ernst (Republican, Iowa), Dick Durbin (Democrat, Illinois), Roger Wicker (Republican, Mississippi), John Fetterman (Democrat, Pennsylvania), and Rick Scott (Republican, Florida).
The authors remind that as of April 16, 2025, Ukrainian authorities had received at least 19,546 confirmed reports of illegal deportations and forced transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia, Belarus, or Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
Furthermore, they condemn the forced relocation of Ukrainian children, noting that Putin's invasion increasingly exposes children to risks of human trafficking, exploitation, child labor, sexual violence, starvation, injury, and death.
Grassley stated that Putin has "kidnapped thousands of children to subject them to ideological indoctrination and Russification, attempting to eradicate their cultural identity and heritage." He added, "The United States must demand the return of these children before any peace agreement is signed in Ukraine."
Klobuchar added, "The mass kidnapping of Ukrainian children by Russia is a crime against humanity. We cannot accept a world where children are kidnapped during war and used as bargaining chips. These children must be returned unconditionally before any peace agreement is made."
Supporting organizations include World Relief, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (Southern Baptist Convention), the Christian Life Commission, Peace & Power Ukraine, and Razom for Ukraine, a leading American nonprofit supporting Ukraine.
Razom stated, "This is an important step in fulfilling President Donald Trump’s promise made on March 19 to ensure the return of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia to their families."
During a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky on March 19, Trump promised to work closely with "both sides" to secure the return of these children, despite the cessation of US funding for identification investigations.
The investigation was conducted by the Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at Yale University’s School of Public Health.
In its report to the UN Security Council last December, HRL stated that it had identified 314 Ukrainian children placed in a "systematic, Kremlin-controlled program of forced adoption and upbringing."
On Tuesday, May 20, HRL’s executive director Nathaniel Raymond welcomed the senators' initiative in a comment to Kyiv Post.
"The resolution introduced today by Senators Grassley and Klobuchar is an important step towards ensuring the swift return of kidnapped Ukrainian children from Russia and preventing Vladimir Putin from holding children from another country in violation of the Geneva Conventions," he said.
Mykola Kuleba, CEO and founder of the organization 'Save Ukraine' and former Commissioner for Children's Rights in Ukraine, stated that the kidnapped children of Ukraine "rely on the moral leadership of the United States."
"Since 2022, Russia has illegally taken Ukrainian children from their homes and subjected them to human trafficking, identity destruction, and militarization, which is a gross violation of human rights and international law," Kuleba stated in a comment published by Razom.
"As the head of a nonprofit working to rescue and return these children to their families, I am grateful for every voice raised in their defense. We deeply appreciate the leaders calling for action to ensure the safe return of these children," Kuleba noted.
The Senate resolution is a continuation of an April letter sent by forty religious leaders to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the return of nearly 20,000 children who have been forcibly transported to Russia and Russian-controlled territories.