The photograph rests on my desk: Anhelina Halych, a small girl, still a toddler, her eyes bright with a smile that no longer exists. Born in Kyiv in October 2022, she loved drawing, was learning English, and could recognize colors. On Aug. 28, 2025, a Russian missile erased her entire world. Her mother, Nadiya, died beside her. One child. One story among thousands.
I write not only as a governmental official, but also as a witness to systematic evil. Russia’s war against Ukraine is a war against children, a calculated, merciless assault on the most vulnerable. The numbers are staggering. Confirmed deaths of 661 children. More than 2,200 wounded. But these are just the verified statistics from territories under Ukrainian control.
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The exact toll on occupied lands remains unknown. Russia holds countless more Ukrainian children there. They’re being brainwashed, trained for war, and turned into tools for Russia’s empire. Thousands have been taken to Russia to erase their Ukrainian identity. This is genocide, not collateral damage. It’s a deliberate strategy to destroy a nation’s heart and soul.
My fellow Ukrainians are truly encouraged by the Americans’ understanding of the vile nature of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime. We are also deeply grateful to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a decisive step based on this understanding: for its unanimous motion to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Katie Britt (R-AL), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have crafted legislation that goes beyond symbolic condemnation. It demands accountability.
The bill is clear and just. Russia must return the stolen children and cease attacks on civilian infrastructure. Failure means joining a list of global pariah states: Iran, Syria, Cuba, and North Korea. Quite rightly so, given its long-standing alliance with these countries.
Russia’s crimes extend far beyond child abduction. The country deliberately targets civilian infrastructure. It crushes religious freedoms. So far, it has destroyed 704 churches and killed 74 priests. Many more are systematically tortured along with thousands of civilian hostages and prisoners of war. For American veterans who endured the horrors of the Hanoi Hilton, the name itself evokes a visceral understanding of human cruelty. What is happening to Ukrainians in Russian custody is that same cruelty, amplified and weaponized on a massive scale. The world needs to recognize this for what it is: a state policy of torture.
But the treatment of children is the most heinous testament to Russia’s moral bankruptcy. Consider Pylyp, a 17-year-old forcibly taken to Russia. He was “adopted” by Putin’s commissary for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, who is under an international arrest warrant. In her own words, she had to reeducate Pylyp because he would sing Ukrainian songs, refusing to abandon his identity.
Or Vlad from Kherson, isolated in a tiny cell after daring to remove a Russian flag. Or the Lesnichenko brothers, 4-year-old Denis and 6-year-old Yehor, killed alongside their parents by a Russian drone. This is a manhunt, not a battle.
These are not isolated incidents. They are a pattern of state-sponsored terrorism. To save children, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky established the Bring Kids Back UA initiative. With the help of the international coalition, we have returned 1,744 children home from Russia and the temporarily occupied territories. Each rescued child is a saved life, a restored hope. And the unwavering support of the United States has been and remains vital to the success of this initiative.
We Ukrainians are grateful to first lady Melania Trump, whose personal efforts helped secure the return of a group of Ukrainian children. Her humanitarian leadership demonstrates that diplomacy, when guided by genuine compassion, can pierce even the darkest diplomatic barriers.
For centuries, the U.S. has been a global beacon of true faith and humanity-based values. As the world stands at a moral crossroads, it needs strong leadership. Designating Russia a state sponsor of terrorism is more than a political act. It will be a declaration that America refuses to normalize barbarism.
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Likewise, strengthening economic sanctions will force Russia to pay a high price for its criminal war. And providing Ukraine with the weapons it needs will protect thousands of innocent people. The U.S. has been exceptionally supportive of our struggle for sovereignty and peace, and we are committed to working along with you to make this alliance of freedom last for a safer world.
Every child stolen, every family torn apart, every life extinguished: These are not mere statistics. They are a challenge to the entire civilized world, grounded in respect for human life and dignity. We must take the lead. No one else can.
Andriy Yermak serves as head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and leads the country’s diplomatic and humanitarian coordination, including the Bring Kids Back UA initiative.