‘Time is not on our side’: Ukraine presses Trump for help with children stolen by Russia

Ukraine’s top official responsible for returning children kidnapped by Russia is urging greater U.S. assistance in delivering justice for more than a million families across his country. 

One of the darkest aspects of Russia’s war against Ukraine is its campaign of abducting Ukrainian children, the subject of an international war crime indictment against Russian President Vladimir Putin and one of his top deputies.

Maksym Maksymov, head of Bring Kids Back UA, was in Washington D.C. this week warning of Russia’s evolving strategy to “reprogram” Ukrainian children into Russian patriots and soldiers.

“There’s a lot of sense of urgency, and we do understand that time is not on our side,” he told The Hill in an interview earlier this week, ahead of meetings with Republican and Democratic lawmakers. 

The Ukrainian government has identified at least 20,000 Ukrainian children in Russian custody and painstakingly returned 2,200 since February 2022, the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country. Ukraine is returning about 50 children per month through a mix of clandestine operations and government-to-government handovers. 

Maksymov said that there are an estimated 1.5-to-1.6-million children living under Russian occupation — all vulnerable to Russian authorities’ campaign of indoctrination and militarization. 

“Their strategy hasn’t changed — which is to destroy the identity of the population and the generation — their method has,” Maksymov said. 

While Russia was initially taking children and dispersing them throughout Russia — placing them in boarding schools or with Russian families — they have now built a network of education and militarization facilities in the occupied territories, according to independent research and government investigations.

Maksymov said this allows Russia to “reprogram on the spot.” 

“Now they do not need anymore to physically move the kids to achieve their goals,” he said. 

There’s robust bipartisan backing in Congress for the U.S. to support Ukraine in returning children abducted by Russia. But Trump’s stranglehold on the Republican party has stalled any efforts in Congress to advance meaningful legislation.

After a year and a half in limbo, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.H.) achieved a vote on the House floor for his Ukraine Support Act, thanks in part to two House Republicans and one Independent, who bucked Trump and helped bring the bill to the floor. The bill includes military support for Ukraine, sanctions authority against Russia and a provision condemning Russia’s........

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