Hawkeye Reporter

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) have introduced the Abducted Ukrainian Children Recovery and Accountability Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at supporting Ukraine in its efforts to investigate, track, and return nearly 20,000 children abducted during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The legislation is designed to help with the rehabilitation and reintegration of returned children as well as to ensure accountability for those responsible for the abductions.

“After he started the largest war in Europe since World War II, Putin kidnapped thousands of Ukrainian children to brainwash and Russify them, trying to destroy their cultural identity and heritage. These children should be returned home as soon as possible. Our bipartisan legislation supports critical tools to identify and track the location of these children and reintegrate them into their homeland. We’re also helping hold perpetrators accountable for their atrocities to ensure justice is served,” Grassley said.

“The mass kidnapping of Ukrainian children by Russia is an atrocity. We cannot accept a world where children are abducted during wartime and used as a form of hostage-taking for negotiations. Our bipartisan legislation will provide the necessary resources to bring them home and hold the perpetrators accountable,” Klobuchar said.

The introduction of this bill follows previous actions by both senators, including a bipartisan resolution in May condemning Russia’s abduction and forced transfer of Ukrainian children, which called for their return before any final peace agreement is reached. In March, Grassley, Klobuchar, and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) led another bipartisan letter urging the State Department to continue its support for investigating these incidents.

Ukrainian authorities have confirmed at least 19,546 cases involving unlawful deportations or forced transfers of Ukrainian children into Russia or Russian-controlled territories. These actions reportedly aim to erase Ukrainian names, language, and identity among abducted youth. As of April 16, only 1,274 abducted children have been successfully returned through cooperation between Ukraine and international partners.

The U.S. State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report highlights that Russia continues practices such as recruiting child soldiers and maintaining state-sponsored policies linked with human trafficking—placing it among the worst countries globally regarding human trafficking violations.