UN calls for return of Russia-abducted Ukrainian children in US-backed vote
The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution on Dec. 3 demanding the return of all Ukrainian children who have been illegally deported by Russia, with 91 countries voting in favor and 12 against.
The U.S. supported the resolution, while Russia, Belarus and Iran have voted against it. Fifty-seven countries, including China, India and Brazil, abstained from voting.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has identified over 19,500 children who were illegally transferred to Russia, Belarus, or Russian-occupied territories. Fewer than 1,300 have been brought back.
As of December, Ukraine has secured the release of 1,859 Ukrainian children, First Lady Olena Zelenska said.
"There will be no just peace in Ukraine without the unconditional return of Ukrainian children. This resolution is not about politics. It is about humanity," Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa said at the U.N. General Assembly debate.
The document demands that Russia return all Ukrainian children forcibly displaced or deported since 2014. It also calls for an end to further deportations, family separations, changes in citizenship, adoptions, fostering, and ideological indoctrination.
Kateryna Rashevska, a legal expert at Ukraine's Regional Center for Human Rights, said at the U.S. Senate hearing on Dec. 3 that at least two Ukrainian children abducted by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine were forcibly transferred to a camp in North Korea.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has already issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in connection with the abductions.
According to the Yale School of Public Health, Russia is conducting a "systematic, intentional, and widespread" campaign of forced adoption and Russification. Many children are enrolled in organizations like Yunarmiya, or the "Young Army," which trains minors in military skills and indoctrinates them with loyalty to the Kremlin.
