US allocates $25 million to track, return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia
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The United States has allocated $25 million to identify, return, and rehabilitate Ukrainian children forcibly abducted by Russia, the State Department announced on March 26.
Since the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s national "Children of War" database has documented 20,000 Ukrainian children that have been abducted from Russian-occupied territories and taken to Russia or Russian-controlled areas. Ukrainian officials estimate the real figure of abducted children could be as many as 200,000–300,000.
The newly announced grant, which was publicly posted on the U.S. government grants' website, will be allocated to U.S. non-profit organizations in support of the Ukrainian government's efforts to return the Russia-abducted children, the grant descriptions reads.
In a separate news release, the State Department said that the funding, supported by the U.S. Congress, will "assist reliable partners" in the identification and tracking of the children, while subsequently providing support to the "Ukrainian government and trusted local partners" to facilitate their return to Ukrainian-held soil.
Despite U.S. President Donald Trump being thus far unable to broker a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, U.S. First Lady Melania Trump has nonetheless made the issue of abducted Ukrainian children a central focus of her humanitarian agenda — helping to facilitate the return of a few dozen children to their Ukrainian parents.
While Kyiv has also made progress on returning some of the children, thus far fewer than 2,000 of the abducted Ukrainian children have been returned to their Ukrainian families.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian minors. Moscow has rejected the allegations.
A UN inquiry found earlier this month the the forced deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children by Russia throughout its full-scale war in Ukraine amounts to crimes against humanity. In addressing top Russian officials role in the abductions, the report further found that Putin's involvement in the execution of Moscow's policies "has been visible from the outset."
The State Department said in a statement that the newly announced funding serves as "an essential step in supporting diplomatic and other efforts to facilitate (the abducted childrens') return."
News of the funding comes amid a Washington Post report on March 26, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, that the Pentagon is considering redirecting military aid intended for Ukraine to the Middle East.
The potential move comes as the U.S. expands operations against Iran, raising concerns in Kyiv about possible delays in urgently needed air defense supplies amid intensifying Russian attacks.
