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Two US senators announced plans to summon Russia’s ambassador to Washington for a hearing on the systematic abduction of Ukrainian children. The bipartisan initiative from Senators Lindsey Graham and Brian Schatz on 29 October aims to demand accountability for what Ukrainian authorities state are 19,546 documented child deportations since the 2022 invasion.
This congressional hearing represents a new push, moving the accountability effort beyond international courts. By seeking to publicly confront the Russian ambassador, the senators aim to apply direct diplomatic pressure, as legal enforcement of ICC warrants remains impractical.
A bipartisan push for accountability
Two US senators announced plans to invite Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev, to answer for the systematic abduction of Ukrainian children. Senators Lindsey Graham (Republican, South Carolina) and Brian Schatz (Democrat, Hawaii) told The Hill on Wednesday that they planned to formally invite the ambassador to testify before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.
The initiative follows growing concerns over the scale of the deportations and the preservation of evidence.
“This is a real atrocity, and the American government should help to establish the record and try to remedy what has been done,” Schatz told TheHill.
The Ukrainian embassy in Washington has reportedly begun preparations for the hearing. Schatz acknowledged that senators likely cannot compel a foreign diplomat to testify, noting they would issue an invitation rather than a subpoena.
Kremlin’s blatant denial
The Russian Embassy in Washington rejected the senators’ initiative, calling it “just another provocation,” in a statement reported by TASS. Russian diplomats claimed the hearing was intended “to cover up war crimes committed by neo-Nazi regime in Kiev against civilians, including children in Donbas.”
The embassy accused Ukraine and its allies of waging a “campaign of lies and fakes of ‘tens of thousands’ of abducted minors,” claiming that “the actual list presented by Ukraine does not exceed 339.”
While stating that Russia is open to “cooperation in good faith” to reunite families, the embassy concluded that “Any Russian participation in such a highly biased hearing is therefore out of question.”
The scale of the abductions
According to data from the Ukrainian government portal Children of War, 19,546 children have been documented as deported as of 30 October 2025. The portal also reports that 661 children have been killed and 2,205 wounded during the war, while 1,744 children have been successfully returned.
Key data from a September 2025 report by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab includes:
Total Facilities: Children from Ukraine have been taken to at least 210 facilities inside Russia and the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine since the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Re-education Programs: Re-education activities aligned with pro-Russia narratives have occurred in at least 130 sites (61.9%) identified in the study where Ukrainian children have been taken.
Military Training: Children from Ukraine underwent military training in at least 39 locations (18.6%) identified by the Humanitarian Research Lab.
Facility Expansion: At least 49 of the 210 locations (23.3%) identified were expanded or had new permanent roofed structures added since the full-scale invasion.
Government Management: Russia’s government directly manages at least 106 of the 210 locations where Ukrainian children have been taken, including 55% of facilities where re-education occurred and 58% where militarization took place.
Concerns mounted that the collection of this vital data would be disrupted after the Trump administration terminated funding for the Yale tracking program in March 2025, which could result in the destruction of war crimes evidence. “This data is absolutely crucial to Ukraine’s efforts to return their children home,” wrote a group of US lawmakers.
International bodies cite genocide pattern
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in March 2023 for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on charges of unlawful deportation of children.
Russia denounced the warrants but does not deny relocating Ukrainian children. Grigory Karasin, head of the international committee in Russia’s Federation Council, claimed in July 2023 that 700,000 children had “found refuge” in Russia, “fleeing the bombing and shelling from the conflict areas in Ukraine.”
In an official resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe stated that documented evidence of child deportations “matches” the crime of genocide as defined by Article 2(e) of the Genocide Convention, which includes the “the forcible transfer of children from one group to another group.”
Despite these measures, returns remain limited. Recent successes include eight children who escaped occupation in mid-October. First Lady Melania Trump has also reportedly advocated for the children’s return, exchanging letters with Putin.
Related:
Eight children returned from occupation: sisters bullied for Ukrainian language, boy hid from Russians
Swedish MP becomes OSCE special envoy for abducted Ukrainian children. Russia erases their identity and turns into future soldiers
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