Zelenska credits Melania Trump for spotlighting Ukraine child recovery effort
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Ukraine is scrambling to rescue thousands of children kidnapped by Russia, and Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska credits Melania Trump with helping bring that effort to the forefront.
“The community that First Lady Melania Trump has created is very important,” Zelenska said in an exclusive interview on “The Sunday Briefing.” he said.
“I am very grateful to him for his involvement in this,” he said later, translating his remarks from Ukrainian. “He deeply understands how important this issue is, and I’m sure his involvement is very helpful because his advocacy attracts attention.”
MELANIA TRUMP SAYS ‘THE TIME IS NOW’ FOR NEW GLOBAL CHILDREN’S INITIATIVE AT UN
In this photo taken from Zelenska’s X account, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska stands next to US First Lady Melania Trump. (@zelenskaua/X)
Zelenska said the effort to bring the children home depends on a growing coalition of countries working together to determine where the children are and pressure Russia to return them.
Nearly 2,000 children have been brought back to Ukraine so far, but he warned the current pace was too slow.
“If we go this slowly, it will take decades to bring them all back,” Zelenska said.
MELANIA TRUMP SAID THAT 7 MORE UKRAINIAN CHILDREN WERE RECOGNIZED WITH THEIR FAMILIES WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE INITIATIVE WITH RUSSIA
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at his annual press conference and invited program at Gostinny Dvor in Moscow on Friday, December 19, 2025. (Pavel Bednyakov/AP Photo)
“It is very important that as many countries as possible join us.” [in the effort to find them]”
Ukraine is reportedly still searching for nearly 20,000 children believed to have been “forcibly relocated” by Russia since the war began in 2022. Trump administration increased effort last week with a new $25 million fund.
Investigations revealed that many of the children were taken to a network of more than 200 facilities across Russia and occupied territories, where they were subjected to “re-education” programs, placed with Russian families and more.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Some sites are also linked to military-style training for some children. research From Yale’s Humane Research Laboratory.
Zelenska stated that efforts to locate the children were complicated by the lack of reliable information and accused Russia of making it difficult to track the children’s whereabouts.
