Since Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, thousands of Ukrainian children—from infants to teenagers—have been kidnapped and deported to Russia, Belarus, or Russian-controlled territories. Their parents languish in agony—searching, waiting, worrying—often with no knowledge of where their children are or if they are alive.

Abducted children suffer more than displacement. They are stripped of their selfhood. 

• Names changed and birthdays rewritten
• Ukrainian language and culture banned
• Identities deleted by new passports 
• Families erased through illegal adoption

Young children reunited with their families do not recognize their own parents. They cannot speak Ukrainian. They have been brainwashed to believe Russian lies: that their parents didn’t want them, that Ukrainian children are harvested for organs, and that Russia “rescued” them in an act of mercy.

Older children face an even deadlier danger: If they are not rescued before age 18, they risk conscription into the Russian military—compelled to fight against their own fathers. 

Investigations by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab and Ukraine’s Regional Center for Human Rights found thousands of children living in military camps in Russia, Belarus, and Russian-occupied territories, where Russian soldiers indoctrinate and train them in weapon assembly and trench combat.  
The theft of Ukraine’s children is a war crime. 

In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Children's Rights Commissioner for the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children. Investigations by UN bodies and independent researchers have documented a coordinated system of deportation, re-education, and forced assimilation that constitutes crimes against humanity.

Childhoods Cannot Outlast Years of War

The good news is that reunification is possible. More than 2,100 children have been returned through extraordinary international efforts. 

But thousands more remain in Russian custody, many for years. In the life of a growing child, time becomes a weapon of war. 

As missed birthdays fly by, parents are racing against time to save what remains of stolen childhoods—before the rupture of family ties becomes permanent. 

PETITION

To: U.S. Congress, G7 Governments, the European Union, and the United Nations

We Demand Urgent, Coordinated Action

1. Make the return of children a non-negotiable condition of diplomacy
   • The United States, G7 nations, and their allies must require the verified return of all Ukrainian children as a condition in any negotiations or engagement with Russia.
2. Impose escalating consequences
   • Governments must expand targeted sanctions, legal actions, and diplomatic consequences against those responsible for the abduction, transfer, and indoctrination of children.
3. Create a global recovery and tracking mechanism
   • The United Nations, in partnership with governments and NGOs, must establish a centralized, transparent system to identify, locate, and reunite every abducted child.
4. Fund long-term healing for children and families
   • Governments and humanitarian organizations must invest in trauma-informed, family-centered care to support recovery after reunification

What You Can Do Right Now

• Sign this petition and add your voice
• Contact your elected representatives and demand action
• Share this petition using #BeforeTheyAreLost
• Engage your faith community—ask your leaders to speak out
• Support organizations working to locate and return these children