Last week, the @SaveUkraineUs team rescued 23 children and teenagers from occupation. This mission was made possible thanks to the support of our partners within the framework of the President of Ukraine's Bring Kids Back UA initiative. Each of them endured pressure, intimidation, and very real threats to their lives, but the worst is finally behind them. Among the rescued: 🔹 9-year-old Stefan, who was forced at school to throw grenades and to assemble and disassemble assault rifles. When the boy drew a blue-and-yellow flag, his mother was summoned to the school by FSB officers, who threatened her with violence and demanded she teach her child to "love the motherland." 🔹 13-year-old Polina, who miraculously survived when a Russian combat drone began hunting her in her own backyard—to save herself, the child had to drop to the ground and hide in thorny bushes. After that, she was so terrified that she refused to leave the house at all. But home wasn't safe either: armed occupiers would break into houses, and to cut people off from information, they would shoot up household antennas as a show of force. 🔹 20-year-old Mariana, whom armed Russian soldiers forced to walk home under escort for a document check, subjecting her to harsh interrogations at checkpoints. In her occupation school, she was forced to listen to imported teachers who openly declared that Ukraine did not exist. For these and 20 other children, the occupation is now in the past. Today, they are undergoing rehabilitation at our Hope and Healing Centers, receiving psychological support, assistance with documents, and cozy housing so they can start with a clean slate. Unfortunately, thousands of children still remain under occupation, where the enemy is trying to erase their identity and weaponize them. That is why our fight for every single one of them continues. 🙏🏻 Thank you to our partners @Klitschko , Tatjana Kiel, #WeAreAllUkrainians, The Humanity Funds, and the Joint Center for Coordinating the Search and Release—together, we are bringing Ukrainian children home. Thanks to Save Ukraine, over 1,800 children are already home.

I will be speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team this week to discuss Starshield, sanctions, and other matters pertaining to the defense of our strong ally, Ukraine. I will be assuring President Zelenskyy that anyone who attempts to limit the use of Starshield for Ukraine will be fully investigated and will be held fully accountable, to include public congressional oversight hearings, and immediate harsh and punitive budget cuts to any responsible agency or agency head. Congress will unequivocally reaffirm that Ukraine is an indispensable ally to the United States, that Russia is a self-declared enemy of the United States, and that the United States will 100% support and defend the people of Ukraine in their fight for their own freedom against this brutal, illegal, and unprovoked Russian invasion. The United States must provide any and all defensive equipment that Ukraine needs to defend itself. The United States must not import a single drop of Russian oil. Sanctions against the Russian regime must be harsher and stronger than they’ve ever been before. Each and every one of these items will be brought to the House Floor—and each and every one of these items will pass on the House Floor by an overwhelming margin. This is, after all, what Ronald Reagan would do. And this is what we will do now. Ukraine can, and will, defeat Russia. #PeaceThroughStrength