Landsman Sends Letter to Sec. Rubio & Bessent Regarding Ongoing Abductions of Children from Ukraine

Cincinnati, OH – Today, Congressman Greg Landsman (D-OH-01) sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent regarding the ongoing abductions of children from Ukraine by Russia, the lack of American leadership to counter these crimes, and the loss of a tracking database that is critical to rescuing these children.

“We are writing to bring your attention to the ongoing abductions of children from Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the concerning reduction in American leadership in countering these crimes. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian government has compiled a list of approximately 20,000 verifiable names of children abducted by Russia and illegally concealed within the Russian adoption system. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, more than 700,000 people from Ukraine have been relocated to Russia.

“In addition to aligning our sanctions regime with our allies, we must not cede ground on the vital information support we have provided to Ukraine. As alluded to earlier, Yale HRL has compiled three reports, sourced from satellite imagery and biometric data, tracking identities and locations of over 30,000 children from Ukraine at dozens of locations. This data is absolutely crucial to Ukraine’s efforts to return their children home.

“We have reason to believe that the data from the repository has been permanently deleted. If true, this would have devastating consequences.”

Read the full letter here.

###