The U.S. State Department announced yesterday that it will provide $25 million in new support assistance for the identification, return and rehabilitation of children from Ukraine.

The funding will support programs that “identify and locate children who have been forcibly removed from their homes” as well as the Ukrainian government and local partners to care for the returning children, the State Department said.

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, who is visiting the US, is fighting for the return home of Ukrainian children and during her visit to the US she met with State Department officials.

She said she was grateful to the U.S. government and the Congress for “making it a priority.”

“Behind every number is a child, a family, a life waiting to be restored. Every child from Ukraine must return home,” she wrote on X yesterday.

The program of returning children who have been forcibly removed or abducted by Russian forces is an initiative of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

It aims to return to safe areas children who have been deported to Russia or confined to Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. It was announced yesterday that more than 2,000 such children have been returned.

Ukraine is currently processing the cases of 20,570 children who have been forcibly deported and removed, it was pointed out.

A United Nations investigation concluded earlier this month that the deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine after the Russian invasion in 2022 constitutes a crime against humanity.

Russia has repeatedly denied reports of child abductions, saying it acted to ensure their safety from the conflict.