Condemning the illegal abduction of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

Whereas, on January 12, 1951, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (commonly known as the Genocide Convention Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation renewed their illegal and unprovoked large-scale invasion of Ukraine; Whereas, on March 9, 2022, Russian Forces attacked a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of 3 individuals and injuries to 17 other individuals; Whereas, on March 22, 2022, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced that the Russian military had forcefully and illegally kidnapped 2,389 Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine; Whereas, on June 2, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that 200,000 children are among the Ukrainians who have been forcefully resettled in Russia; Whereas forcibly transferring children of one group to another group is a violation of Article II(e) of the Genocide Convention; Whereas, Maria Lvova-Belova, Children’s Rights Commissioner for the President of Russia, admitted to kidnapping Ukrainian children and facilitating forced adoptions to Russian families; Whereas Ukrainian authorities have stated that a number of the kidnapped Ukrainian children have families who remain in Ukraine, but have been separated due to the renewed Russian invasion; Whereas, on June 16, 2022, Russian authorities announced that children born in occupied Ukrainian territories after the February 24, 2022, invasion will be deemed Russian citizens; Whereas, on June 22, 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner has verified at that at least 320 children have been killed since Russia’s renewed invasion began; Whereas, on July 11, 2022, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres ordered an investigation into the deaths and injuries of Ukrainian children; and Whereas, on July 13, 2022, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken issued a statement calling upon Russia to immediately halt its systemic filtration operations in Ukraine That the House of Representatives— (1) holds the Government of the Russian Federation, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, responsible for the wrongful and illegal kidnapping of children from Ukraine and officially condemns these actions in the strongest terms; (2) declares that the facilitation of illegal adoptions is contrary to Russia’s obligations under the Genocide Convention and amounts to genocide; (3) claims that the Russian Federation is attempting to wipe out a generation of Ukrainian children, thereby crippling Ukraine’s ability to nurture the next generation of Ukrainian citizens and leaders and to rebuild their country after Russia’s unprovoked war, with the purpose of demolishing Ukraine’s unique language, culture, history, and identity; and (4) asserts that the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation has significantly increased the risks of children being exposed to human trafficking and exploitation, child labor, gender-based violence, hunger, injury, trauma, deprivation of education and shelter, and death.

Summary: This resolution states that the House of Representatives holds the Russian government responsible for the illegal kidnapping of children from Ukraine and condemns these actions. The resolution also (1) declares that illegal adoptions are contrary to the Genocide Convention (the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide); (2) claims that Russia is attempting to wipe out a generation of Ukrainian children; and (3) asserts that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has increased the risks of children being exposed to human trafficking, exploitation, child labor, gender-based violence, hunger, injury, trauma, deprivation of education and shelter, and death.