Ukraine's President Says Russia Trains Abducted Children as Combatants

Ukraine's president said his government possesses evidence that Russia is abducting Ukrainian children and training them to fight against fellow Ukrainians. The president made the statement during an interview with Margaret Brennan that aired Sunday on Face the Nation. He said the children are taught to hate their native country and are later sent to the battlefield.

The president stated that Ukraine has documented the abduction of at least 20,000 children and suspects the actual number is higher. He said his government has raised the issue with members of Congress and hopes lawmakers will impose additional sanctions on Russia.

He also said Russia has offered to exchange abducted children for captured Ukrainian soldiers, a proposal Ukraine rejected because international law prohibits trading civilians.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant in 2023 for Russia's president over the unlawful deportation of children. The Kremlin has described its program as a humanitarian effort to care for war orphans. A March report by the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health concluded with high confidence that two Russian state-owned energy companies helped fund the reeducation of more than 2,000 Ukrainian children.

The report also noted that a U.S. sanctions waiver on Russian oil sales has generated revenue for those companies. The president said lifting sanctions provides financial support to Russian forces and urged stricter measures in response to the child-abduction allegations.