Bipartisan US Congress resolution condemns Russia over abducted Ukrainian children

In a rare show of bipartisan unity, Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks and Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, who is the ranking member of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, have introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives condemning Russia for the mass abduction and forced relocation of Ukrainian children.

Announced on June 30, the document calls for the immediate return of these minors to their homes, even before a peace agreement is reached to finally end the Russo-Ukrainian war.

“Putin is a war criminal and, under his watch, the Russian military has cruelly abducted and illegally deported tens of thousands of Ukrainian children from their homeland,” Meeks said. “These atrocities are not isolated incidents; they are the direct result of Putin’s war of choice.”

He said that the U.S. has a responsibility to condemn Russia’s illegal actions and demand the swift return of every child taken.

Russia has abducted at least 19,500 Ukrainian children, with unofficial estimates reaching as high as 200,000, since the full-scale invasion began.

Many of these children have been stripped of their national identity, adopted into Russian families, or even trained to serve as soldiers for the Kremlin, McCaul said.

“As a father, I can’t imagine the pain their families have experienced. Russia’s mass-scale child abduction is nothing short of evil; the United States must demonstrate moral leadership by demanding every child be returned to his or her family in Ukraine before true peace can be achieved,” McCaul said.

In the Senate — the upper chamber of Congress — the resolution was introduced by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar.