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(Evening Standard) – From plagues and volcanic eruptions to the current Covid pandemic, mankind has always been faced with catastrophes.
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Paul Teller: Ukraine’s Kidnapped Youth
Russia is stealing children because it has aborted its own future
Last month, eight kidnapped Ukrainian children were finally returned home from Russia, rescued from a nightmare that no child on Earth should endure. Their homecoming didn’t happen by chance. It followed months of quiet, courageous diplomacy by First Lady Melania Trump, who stepped into a void of international indifference and refused to give up until families were reunited.
But her success raises a question the world can no longer ignore: Why are Ukrainian children in Russia in the first place?
This points to one of the darkest features of Vladimir Putin’s war—and one of the most overlooked. Since the invasion, the Kremlin has carried out a coordinated campaign to forcibly remove thousands of Ukrainian children from occupied territory. These are not adoptions or humanitarian evacuations. They are abductions, and they are part of a larger effort to completely erase the sovereign nation of Ukraine.
Ukraine has documented more than 19,500 children taken. The true number could be in the hundreds of thousands—no one knows for sure. Independent researchers at Yale have mapped a vast system of camps and indoctrination sites spanning Russia and its occupied regions—places where children are stripped of their language, culture, and identity and reforged into tools of a foreign empire. Some are placed with Russian guardians. Others are subjected to military training.
The International Criminal Court took the extraordinary step of issuing arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin himself and Maria Lvova-Belova, Children’s Rights Commissioner for the President of the Russian Federation, who says that 730,000 Ukrainian children are now in Russia for their protection. They are charged with war crimes, including the unlawful deportation and transfer of children.
To understand why this is happening, we must confront a reality the Kremlin has long tried to bury: Russia is running out of Russians.
Decades of war, political repression, and one of the highest abortion rates in the world have pushed Russia into a demographic freefall. The country is now approaching a 200-year low in its birth rate, far below the level needed to sustain its population.
“Putin has made no secret of his belief that Ukrainians are “one people” with Russians.”
Top Kremlin officials acknowledge that this crisis threatens the survival of the state, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov calling it “the most acute and most important problem for our country.”
Yet Putin’s own statements reveal no interest in adopting pro-family policy. In fact, he has cynically embraced abortion on demand and declared that the decision to abort an unborn baby “is up to the woman herself” as Russia continues aborting away its future.
So the Kremlin has no choice but to look elsewhere.
Putin has made no secret of his belief that Ukrainians are “one people” with Russians. In his twisted view, Putin is replenishing his shrinking population with children he considers Russian, while Russia’s own ethnic minorities from regions like Buryatia and Dagestan are being thrown into high-casualty units to bleed and die on the front lines. To Putin, this is a “win-win.” To the rest of us, it is a crime against a nation’s soul.
The measure of a nation is found in how it treats the most vulnerable, including innocent children, both born and unborn. That is why conservatives should care.
America cannot liberate Ukraine’s children alone. But we can lead.
Melania Trump’s determined diplomacy has shown what American leadership can do. Eight children are home, but thousands remain missing. They are no doubt confused, homesick, scared, and alone. And they are counting on us to make sure they are not forgotten.
The United States must continue supporting efforts to pressure Moscow for their immediate return. And we should back more diplomatic missions, like Mrs. Trump’s, that reunite Ukrainian children with their families back in their homeland.
Wars are often fought over resources like land and oil. But sometimes, wars are fought over children because children are the future. That is why Russia steals them, and why Ukraine fights so fiercely to protect them. And it is also why the United States must stand unshakably with Ukraine until every last child is brought home.
Paul Teller is a trusted voice on conservative strategy and leadership. With decades of experience shaping policy on Capitol Hill and serving in senior roles in the Trump-Pence administration, Teller brings audiences an insider’s perspective on today’s political landscape. His dynamic keynotes blend deep policy expertise with actionable insights, making him a sought-after speaker for organizations navigating the intersection of politics, leadership, and public policy. To bring him to your next event, contact us today.
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