Klobuchar, Grassley bring bill to help abducted Ukrainian youth

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) have introduced their bipartisan Abducted Ukrainian Children Recovery and Accountability Act.

This legislation would support Ukraine’s efforts to investigate and track the nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children who have been abducted during Putin’s brutal invasion. The bill would assist with the rehabilitation and reintegration of children who are returned and provide justice and accountability for perpetrators of these abductions. 

To date, Ukrainian authorities have received at least 19,546 confirmed reports of unlawful deportations and forced transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia, Belarus or Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. The abductions aim to erase the children’s Ukrainian names, language and identity. As of April 16, Ukraine and its partners have only managed to return 1,274 abducted children.