(MENAFN- UkrinForm) This is said in an official statement by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, as reported by Ukrinform.

“Putin is a war criminal and, under his watch, the Russian military has cruelly abducted and illegally deported tens of thousands of Ukrainian children from their homeland. These atrocities are not isolated incidents; they are the direct result of Putin's war of choice,” said Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

He stressed that the United States has a responsibility to condemn these unconscionable acts by Russia and to demand the immediate return of each and every one of the children Russia has taken.

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Michael McCaul, Chairman Emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in turn, stressed that since the beginning of the full-scale war of aggression, Russia has abducted at least 19,500 Ukrainian children from their homeland - with some estimates putting the true number as high as 200,000.

“These children have been stripped of their national identity, adopted into Russian families, or indoctrinated as soldiers for the Kremlin. As a father, I can't imagine the pain their families have experienced,” he said.

McCaul stressed that the United States must demonstrate moral leadership by demanding“every child be returned to his or her family in Ukraine before true peace can be achieved”.

The text of the resolution is published on the official website of the Committee.

As Ukrinform previously reported, the U.S. State Department's 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report found Russia recruits or uses child soldiers, has a state-sponsored policy or pattern of human trafficking.

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