Since the start of the war in Ukraine, nearly 20,000 children have been forcibly taken to Russia or Belarus, according to the organization Bring Kids Back.
Only about 1,400 of those children have been returned to their families.
Now, with talks of a potential peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, officials in Ukraine are demanding that all of the kidnapped children be returned before any conditions are made.
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"This is a human tragedy," said Ukraine Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa in an interview with Scripps News. "Russia continues on a daily basis mass deportation of our children. And it continues war crimes against our children. And they're just the most vulnerable group of our people."
Betsa said the pain parents suffer losing their children and the trauma the children endure is "unimaginable."
Once taken to Russia, the Ukrainian children have their "identity erased," are "brainwashed," and then put up for adoption with Russian families.
"We will fight for every child to be back home," Betsa said.
