I have helped rescue 235 Ukrainian children who were kidnapped by Russia and taken from their families and country. Russia's abduction, adoption, and brainwashing of Ukrainian children is the most cynical element of Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan to eliminate the Ukrainian state.

In my organization, save ukraine, only a small portion of those abducted were rescued. According to a report from Ukrainian authorities, 19,000 It was stolen by Russia. Russian children's commissioner Maria Lviva-Belova, who was indicted along with President Putin at the International Criminal Court for these crimes, boasts: Russia “saved” 744,000 Ukrainian children.

What President Putin is doing is genocide under international law, and the longer we do nothing, the fewer children will be saved.

This is the message I submitted to Congress last week. testified Before the US Helsinki Commission with three children who survived the Russian government's child deportation program. They shared heartbreaking and infuriating stories of resilience. Dennis, who was commuting to and from a “summer camp” in occupied territory, had untreated diabetes and became seriously ill. Before the war, Ksenia lived with her foster parents, but was separated from her brother. And Rostislav, Broke up He spent 15 days alone after being separated from his mother and refusing to obtain Russian citizenship. He was beaten and tortured by some.

I'm a devout evangelical Christian, but a different group Was chosen Torture by Putin's soldiers in occupied Ukraine. Saving Ukraine's children is not just about saving the Ukrainian nation, it is also a sacred mission to protect its most vulnerable from what can only be described as pure evil.

Russia has justified its actions in various ways.In President Putin tell, Ukraine is not a real country, just a Russian possession filled with deranged cousins ​​of Russian citizens. Being Ukrainian, speaking our own language and deciding the fate of our own sovereign country is an affront to this imperialist mindset. Since being Ukrainian contradicts Putin's interpretation of reality, Russia's solution is simple: destroy the Ukrainian people.

Another simple explanation is that in the face of bleak population decline, hundreds of thousands of people Of the Russians fleeing the country, President Putin wants to kidnap as many Ukrainians as possible to increase the Kremlin's workforce. There are other practical reasons as well. Putin could use abducted children in Ukraine in future wars or as bargaining chips to win cooperation from people in occupied territories.

Whatever the reason, the reality is clear. What Russia is doing is genocide, plain and simple: an effort to destroy the Ukrainian state and people.

We need the help of Americans of goodwill.There is law Congress condemns Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children and declares Russia's war against Ukraine a genocide, and I urge Americans to learn about this bill and ask their representatives to support this bill. I strongly recommend that you do so. The U.S. government can also sanction Russian officials who took part in the abduction plot — Putin and Rybova Belova may have been indicted by the ICC, but the kidnapping of tens of thousands of children is not enough. Much less common in humans. Ukrainian NGOs have successfully rescued Ukrainian children from Russia and need the support of the United States and NATO countries to bring as many children to safety as possible.

Above all, we need the world to understand the scale of Russia's crimes. We cannot wait until the war is over until the children of Ukraine are freed. That could take years. Every day more children can go missing in the Russian system. We need to act now.

Mykola Kuleba is the founder of Save Ukraine, an NGO located in Kiev, Ukraine. From 2014 to his 2021, he served as president Ombudsman for children.