WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE UKRAINIAN CHILDREN KIDNAPPED BY RUSSIA? - Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, international watchdogs and human rights organizations have tracked more than nineteen thousand Ukrainian children illegally abducted by Russia and relocated to Russia, Belarus, and temporarily Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. Under Russian captivity, Ukrainian children have reportedly been subject to frequent abuse, forced adoption, and compulsory “re-education”—all part of a Moscow-led effort to indoctrinate children and erase Ukrainian identity.

As US, Ukrainian, and Russian diplomats conduct negotiations over the potential terms for a cessation of hostilities and eventual peace, the future of forcibly displaced children remains unclear. Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike have urged the US State Department to continue tracking children abducted by Russia, and US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz recently indicated that repatriating children kidnapped and deported by Russia will play a role in continued US-Russia negotiations.

The virtual panel discusses the status of Ukrainian children abducted and forcibly transferred by Russia amid ongoing US-Ukraine-Russia cease-fire and peace negotiations.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 03/31/2025