On June 1st, International Children’s Day, parishioners of Assumption Catholic Church in Perth Amboy, NJ, members of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America (Soyuzianky) Branch 135, Religious Sisters, members of “Boyan” choir and parish children gathered in prayer for the innocent children of Ukraine who have been kidnapped by Russian Federation forces.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly taken from their families and moved into Russian-controlled territories, where many remain trapped.

These children have been placed in institutions, had their identities altered, and put up for adoption. Some have even been militarized and forced to take part in combat against their own homeland.

We call for the immediate return of all these Ukrainian children to their families and their rightful home.