Free the Ukrainian children stolen by Russia

https://nypost.com/2025/02/27/opinion/free-the-ukrainian-children-stolen-by-russia/

By 

Douglas Murray

Published Feb. 27, 2025, 6:34 p.m. ET

Dasha, 21, with her 15-year-old twin siblings Misha and Sahas and her 1-year-old baby Eva at the Save Ukraine shelter in Kyiv.Kateryna Bludova

This week saw the third anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. Known to the rest of the world as Putin’s “full-scale military invasion” of the nation.

Although the Ukrainians managed to stop the Russian forces’ conquering their whole country in the early weeks of the war, around a fifth of the country remains occupied by the Russian military. The human costs of that are unimaginable.

I returned to Ukraine this week to see some of the less-reported consequences of Putin’s war.

One outrage that is finally being talked about — raised by President Trump last week — is the Ukrainian children who have been abducted or otherwise held captive by the Russian army since the war began.

It should now be clear that Russia’s abuse of the Ukrainian population — and in particular its children — must be front and center of any ceasefire negotiation.