HR 588

                                                 PRINTER'S NO.   3788
             THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
      HOUSE RESOLUTION
         No. 588
                                         Session of
                                           2026
INTRODUCED BY CERRATO, HANBIDGE, PROBST, PROKOPIAK, SANCHEZ,
   McANDREW, PIELLI, HOWARD, BRENNAN, GIRAL, GALLAGHER, MALAGARI
   AND GILLEN, JULY 21, 2026
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS AND
   OPERATIONS, JULY 22, 2026
                          A RESOLUTION
1 Condemning the actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine,
2    including the illegal abduction and forcible transfer of
3    Ukrainian children to Russia.
4    WHEREAS, On January 12, 1951, the Convention on the
5 Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, commonly
6 known as the "Genocide Convention," of which the Russian
7 Federation is a party, came into effect; and
8    WHEREAS, On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation
9 launched an unprovoked, large-scale invasion of Ukraine; and
10    WHEREAS, On June 16, 2022, Russian authorities announced that
11 children born in occupied Ukrainian territories after the
12 invasion would be deemed Russian citizens; and
13    WHEREAS, The government of the Russian Federation changed its
14 adoption laws since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022
15 for the purpose of forcibly adopting children abducted from
16 Ukraine in order to raise the children as Russian citizens and
17 erase their Ukrainian identity; and
1    WHEREAS, Forcibly transferring children of one group to
2 another group is a violation of Article II(e) of the Genocide
3 Convention; and
4    WHEREAS, On July 11, 2022, United Nations Secretary-General
5 António Guterres ordered an investigation into the deaths and
6 injuries of Ukrainian children; and
7    WHEREAS, On February 14, 2023, a report by the Yale School of
8 Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab identified at least
9 210 facilities in Russia-occupied Crimea and Russia involved in
10 the systematic academic, cultural, patriotic and military re-
11 education of Ukrainian children; and
12    WHEREAS, Although estimates vary regarding the total number
13 of Ukrainian children forcibly taken by the Russian Federation,
14 Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria
15 Lvova-Belova stated that approximately 700,000 Ukrainian
16 children have been brought to Russia since the start of the
17 full-scale invasion; and
18    WHEREAS, As of April 16, 2025, Ukraine and its partners have
19 managed to return 2,117 abducted Ukrainian children from the
20 Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and the occupied
21 Ukrainian territory; and
22    WHEREAS, Hundreds of thousands of children still reside in
23 the occupied territories of Ukraine, where they face attempts at
24 Russification by occupation authorities; and
25    WHEREAS, The abduction and forcible transfer of Ukrainian
26 children by the Russian Federation and the facilitation of
27 illegal adoptions is contrary to Russia's obligations under the
28 Genocide Convention and amounts to genocide; and
29    WHEREAS, The Russian Federation is attempting to wipe out a
30 generation of Ukrainian children, thereby crippling Ukraine's
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1 ability to nurture the next generation of Ukrainian citizens and
2 leaders and rebuild their country after Russia's unprovoked war,
3 with the purpose of demolishing Ukraine's unique language,
4 culture, history and identity; and
5    WHEREAS, The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation
6 has significantly increased the risks of children being exposed
7 to human trafficking and exploitation, child labor, gender-based
8 violence, hunger, injury, trauma, deprivation of education and
9 shelter and death; therefore be it
10    RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
11 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania condemn the actions of the Russian
12 Federation in Ukraine, including the illegal abduction and
13 forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia; and be it
14 further
15    RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
16 the President of the United States, Vice President of the United
17 States, United States Secretary of State and each member of
18 Congress from Pennsylvania.
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