Ukrainian officials discuss return of deported children with Senators Graham, Blumenthal

Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, reported the meeting on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.

“I held a conversation with U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, who are visiting Ukraine. Also present were U.S. Charge d’Affaires Julie Davis, my deputies Pavlo Palisa and Ihor Brusylo, as well as advisors Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Daria Zarivna, and Oleksandr Bevz,” Yermak said.

During the meeting, Yermak emphasized Ukraine’s expectation of continued support from the United States — not only from President Donald Trump and both parties in Congress, but, importantly, from the American people as a whole.

The issue of returning Ukrainian children abducted by Russia was also a key topic during a separate meeting between the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, and Daria Zarivna, Chief Operating Officer of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, with the U.S. delegation led by Senator Blumenthal and Davis.

“Today, I had an important meeting with the U.S. delegation led by Senator Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Julie Davis,” Lubinets wrote on Telegram.

Lubinets and Zarivna briefed their American partners on the forced deportation and relocation of Ukrainian children by Russia.

Photo: Dmytro Lubinets / Telegram

Lubinets stressed that Russia is attempting to erase Ukrainian identity in children.

“Deportation, change of citizenship, militarization of education, and illegal adoption — these are all links in the chain of the crime of genocide,” he said.

According to him, the senator and ambassador also spoke with children who personally endured deportation and heard their stories — testimonies of suffering.

“They want the world to know what is happening in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Because there are thousands of children who still need to be brought home,” he added.

First photo: Office of the President of Ukraine