US allocates $27 million for the return of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia

The U.S. State Department has earmarked $27 million to help return and reintegrate Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia, State Department officials announced on Sept. 24.

Russia has abducted tens of thousands of Ukrainian children since the start of the full-scale invasion. As of September 2026, Ukraine's Justice Ministry has officially confirmed 20,610 cases of deportation, though Ukrainian officials estimate the real total could number in the hundreds of thousands.

The U.S. State Department is in the process of granting $12 million to a program to identify, return, and reintegrate Ukrainian children held in Russia and in Russian-occupied territories, officials said on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Another $15 million has been authorized for the same purpose, and will be granted to an implementing organization later this year.

The announcement came during a session on Ukraine's forcibly deported children, according to a statement from Bring Kids Back, an initiative of the Ukrainian president.

"We are sincerely grateful to the United States for its unwavering and strong support of efforts aimed at the return, rehabilitation, and full reintegration of Ukrainian children and young people," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.

The funding will "ensure full accountability of Russia for its actions," he said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Dmytro Senyk also expressed gratitude to the U.S. State Department, as well as to the Ukrainian government and the Bring Kids Back initiative. He said the U.S. funds would allow children to be found, brought home safely, and provided the necessary support and rehabilitation.

"The forced transfer and detention of Ukrainian children by Russia is among the most horrifying crimes committed in this war. ... Our joint efforts must continue until every Ukrainian child is found, returned safely, and reunited with their family," Senyk said.

Under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, Washington has previously cut funding to programs supporting Kyiv's efforts to locate and return its kidnapped children.

Trump slashed funds to Yale University's Ukraine Conflict Observatory, a project of the Humanitarian Research Lab that tracked the abduction of Ukrainian children. The project reportedly reportedly transferred its data to the State Department in preparation for its closure in summer 2025.

The U.S. has still shown willingness to partner with Kyiv on returning its stolen children. First Lady Melania Trump has emerged as an advocate for children displaced by war, intervening to help secure the return of over 20 Ukrainian children.

In August 2025, Melania Trump wrote a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, appealing to him about the plight of abducted Ukrainian children. Her husband then conveyed the message to the Russian leader during their summit in Anchorage, Alaska.

Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children is an act of genocide, according to the U.N.'s Genocide Convention, which lists "forcibly transferring children of the group to another group" as one of the five acts that fall under the definition

In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, for their role in state-sanctioned child abductions.