US Congress Helsinki Commission holds hearings on Russia-Ukraine conflicts

The Helsinki Commission of the US Congress held hearings on the impact of Russian aggression on Ukraine’s children and women with the participation of Ambassador Oksana Markorova, Ambassador at Large for Global Criminal Justice Beth Van Schaack and Ukrainian Attorney General Andriy Kostin on Wednesday, July 26, 2023.

During the meeting, the Delegations Ambassador Oksana Markorova, Beth Van Schaak, and Ukrainian Attorney General Andriy Kostin discussed several issues in documenting and investigating war crimes, especially crimes against children, including forced deportation.

In her speech, Ambassador Oksana Markorova emphasized the need to consolidate efforts to strengthen pressure on Russia, which must create a registry of all deported children from Ukraine and share this information with the Ukrainian government and international organizations.’

She also noted the importance of establishing an effective mechanism to return all children to Ukraine and to hold responsible all those who committed crimes against Ukrainian children on international and national levels.

Oksana Markarova thanked the Helsinki Commission for its leadership in supporting Ukraine and for drawing the attention of Congress members to all aspects of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the need to bring the aggressor to justice.

She also thanked Congressmen Don Bacon and Jimmy Panetta and Senator Amy Klobuchar for introducing the draft resolutions of the House of Representatives and the Senate condemning the abduction of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation.

The hearing led by the Chair of the Commission, Representative Joe Wilson, provided testimony from top officials and experts on the ground to discuss the devastating impact of Russia’s war on Ukrainian children and women and what the United States and the international community can do to better protect these vulnerable women and children from the trauma of war and to prevent human trafficking.

Among the participants were Senator Blumenthal, Representative Emanuel Cleaver, Representative Steve Cohen, Representative Victoria Spartz, Representative Marc Veasey, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, U.S. Ambassador at Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Cindy Dyer, Director, Save Ukraine and former Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights Mykola Kuleba, The Center for Mind-Body Medicine representative Dr James S. Gordon, MD.