President Volodymyr Zelensky during a conversation with U.S. senators reported that the Ukrainian side has identified about 400 locations in Russia where children kidnapped from Ukraine are being held.
The head of state said this on X after a meeting with members of the U.S. Congress, reports Suspilne.
“We have found about 400 locations in Russia where kidnapped children are being held. Every day we discover new ones. But the question is not only that they were kidnapped, but how to find and return them. It is very difficult work,” Zelensky said.
The president emphasized that as many world leaders and influential figures as possible need to be involved in the process of returning Ukrainian children. He thanked U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, who, he said, helped return some of the children, and also noted the assistance of Qatar and the Vatican.
Zelensky recalled that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, over 1,600 children have been returned out of nearly 19,500 taken by Russia.
During the meeting, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham reported that the U.S. Congress is considering a number of bills, including on the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and on using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
“We have powerful bills that have already passed committees. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Jim Risch have worked well on initiatives regarding the designation of Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, the issue of child abductions, and also on the REPO Act on frozen assets,” Graham said.
On October 22, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee backed three legislative initiatives aimed at Russia. Among them are the “STOP Russia and China” bill, amendments to the REPO Act that allow more effective use of frozen Russian assets, and also a measure to designate the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen emphasized that these decisions demonstrate bipartisan support for Ukraine in the U.S. Congress.