{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murray.senate.gov/at-hearing-senator-murray-highlights-russias-barbaric-kidnapping-of-ukrainian-children-slams-trump-for-eliminating-funding-for-efforts-to-track-victims/", "At Hearing, Senator Murray Highlights Russia\u2019s Barbaric Kidnapping of Ukrainian Children, Slams Trump for Eliminating Funding for Efforts to Track Victims", "2025-12-03", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senator Murray: \u201cUnfortunately, we simply cannot have this conversation without talking about the fact that, as Ranking Member Schatz mentioned, earlier this year the Trump Administration abruptly cut off funding to help track victims of Russian kidnapping and deliver justice.\u201d\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray questions witnesses on holding Russia accountable for kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs hearing titled \u201cThe Abduction of Ukrainian Children by the Russian Federation,\u201d U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned witnesses on how the United States can support efforts to hold Russia accountable for the kidnapping and forced re-education of thousands of Ukrainian children.\n\nA report from the Yale School of Public Health\u2019s Humanitarian Research Lab concluded this September that Russia has kidnapped thousands of children from Ukraine to at least 210 facilities inside Russia and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and subjected them to re-education or militarization at many of the facilities. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Children\u2019s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of the war crime of illegally deporting and transferring children from Ukraine.\n\nEarlier this year, the Trump administration abruptly terminated funding for the Yale lab\u2019s ongoing research tracking Russia\u2019s abduction of children, and there is still no ongoing funding from the United States for this specific research.\n\nIn opening comments, Senator Murray said:\n\n\u201cThank you very much Mr. Chairman. I\u2019m really glad that this hearing is being held to help shine a light on one of the darkest aspects of Russia\u2019s bloody and unjustified war in Ukraine.\n\n\u201cThousands of Ukrainian children that you\u2019ve talked about have been kidnapped by Russia since this terrible war began. They\u2019ve been abducted from their homes, they\u2019ve been ripped out of their parents\u2019 arms, they\u2019ve been sent, as we\u2019ve heard, to forced re-education programs, military training camps, and worse.\n\n\u201cThe horror of this sort of crime is really hard to even fathom, and that is why it resulted in Putin being charged for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. It is the height of barbarity.\n\n\u201cSo I really appreciate all of the witnesses for joining us today to share their powerful testimony, and discuss the steps we can take to secure justice for this ongoing atrocity and provide healing for the victims and survivors.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, we simply cannot have this conversation without talking about the fact that, as Ranking Member Schatz mentioned, earlier this year the Trump Administration abruptly cut off funding to help track victims of Russian kidnapping and deliver justice.\n\n\u201cAnd as noted already, that data was almost all lost, and was delayed in being sent to the proper authorities. That was absolutely senseless. And today, there is still no ongoing U.S. funding for this specific work.\n\n\u201cNow, I wish that we had Trump administration officials here with us to explain why that program was terminated and to talk about efforts in this space moving forward. I understand Mr. Chairman that they were invited, but they are not here today. That is inexplicable to me.\n\n\u201cWe have also seen the Trump Administration put forward drafts of so-called peace plans that read more like Russian wish lists than a serious plan.\n\n\u201cWe really need better from this administration. We all need to stand firm by our allies in Ukraine. And we need to stand firm for basic principles like accountability and justice. Especially for something as fundamentally immoral as kidnapping children.\n\n\u201cWhich is why it is critical that we push back against careless cuts like the one I just talked about. We need to reverse course and restore the bipartisan tradition of support for investments that uphold our values, support our allies, and strengthen our leadership.\n\n\u201cAnd if we want a peace deal to end this war, we have to make sure that Putin understands that our resolve to stand by our allies will not waver, war crimes cannot be swept under the rug, and he cannot get a better deal by walking away from the table and waiting us out.\n\n\u201cMr. Chairman, I\u2019m pleased that we\u2019re having this hearing today and to be here with so many others who are sending a message in a bipartisan way with our voices.\n\n\u201cAnd I hope that we can send that same message with our laws as well, by writing a very strong, SFOPS bill that restores funding to help identify, track, and return victims of kidnapping, and restores support to so many other worthy NGOs that have a long history of good work, and bipartisan support, and that maintains robust support to Ukraine at this very critical moment.\u201d\n\nAppearing at the hearing as witnesses were: The Honorable Olha Stefanishyna, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States; Mykola Kuleba, Save Ukraine; Maksym Maksymov, Bring Kids Back; and Kateryna Rashevska, Regional Center for Human Rights.\n\n[ROLE OF NGOS]\n\nSenator Murray began by asking Mr. Kuleba about the important efforts of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in efforts to recover kidnapped Ukrainian children: \u201cCan you talk a little bit more about the work you do to return Ukrainian children to their families? And how governmental funding and coordination helps expand your ability to do so?\u201d asked Senator Murray.\n\n\u201cWe built our system beginning from the investigators team who are searching for these kids. Then as I mentioned before, after rescuing these kids we are provided with more information and we can find more information about the kids who stayed in occupied territories. Very often these kids whose parents were killed or arrested or disappeared. We have a little limit of time just to extract them from that territory,\u201d answered Mr. Kuleba. \u201cWe built a holistic system for the search, rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration. We have rehabilitation centers with more than 800 beds\u2026 both for families and children of the reunification and for unaccompanied minors and orphans. Because many children who have been rescued have a draft notice for the Russian army. It is a huge risk. We have kids who have been rescued from Russian foster families, rescued from Russian military academies, even from the Russian army\u2026 they testify how they have been forcibly taken to the Russian army. Thousands of Ukrainian children in such risk. Many of them who when taken, forcibly conscripted, and are now fighting with us. That is why it is so important for us to find these kids and rescue them in time\u2026and they have to fight, they must fight, because if not they will be jailed or killed.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t even imagine. What you said, \u2018in time,\u2019 is really critical. Because if you take the picture you had of two-year-olds and 11-years later, that has been their life, they don\u2019t remember much else, and rehabilitation must be extremely difficult. So \u2018in time,\u2019 is critically important and why funding Mr. Chairman, is so important as well,\u201d Senator Murray replied.\n\n[RUSSIA\u2019S OBSTRUCTION AND MOTIVATION]\n\nSenator Murray continued her questioning by asking Mr. Maksymov about difficulties getting Russia to return the abducted Ukrainian children. \u201cMr. Maksymov, what is the single greatest obstacle the United States will faces in trying to compel Russia to return these abducted children?\u201d\n\nMr. Maksymov answered, \u201cThe reality is that for Russians to return the kids, it is the same as testifying to committing a crime. Every single child returned has been a victim of a war crime. They can tell what happened to them. They can tell law enforcement authorities what happened to peers of theirs and what happened to their friends and what happened to family members\u2026 that is very counter instinctive for them to return the witnesses who will testify against them. Another huge obstacle\u2026 we face is they tried to downplay the crime. Despite hundreds and hundreds of names that have been submitted to Ukraine from different channels\u2026 there has never been a return of 20 kids even\u2026 That goes against the very logic for them to release the witnesses to their crime.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray has been a steadfast supporter of Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s unprovoked invasion in 2022. As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee in the 118th Congress, she played an instrumental role in marshalling through additional support to aid Ukraine in its defense against Putin\u2019s war.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/at-hearing-senator-murray-highlights-russias-barbaric-kidnapping-of-ukrainian-children-slams-trump-for-eliminating-funding-for-efforts-to-track-victims/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0216501541435719, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}