Report: Melania Sent Note to Putin on Abducted Ukrainian Kids

At the Alaska summit on Friday between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the former hand-delivered a letter to the latter—not from himself, but from his wife, Melania Trump. The subject of the Slovenia-born first lady's note: the abductions of Ukrainian children caught up in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to two White House officials who spoke to Reuters. No further details on the letter's contents were offered.

• While Moscow insists that any children under its purview have been taken for their own safety out of war zones, Ukraine has accused Russia of kidnapping tens of thousands of its children, effectively committing a genocide, according to a UN definition. The Independent notes that although the exact number of missing Ukrainian kids isn't known, the Institute for the Study of War in March confirmed that nearly 19,500 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia, though the nonprofit noted "the true figure is likely to be much higher because Russia frequently targets vulnerable children without anyone to speak for them."
• A Yale School of Medicine fact sheet also published in March noted that only a little over 1,200 children have been returned to Ukraine. "Russia targeted vulnerable groups of children for deportation, including orphans, children with disabilities, children from low-income families, and children with parents in the military," the report says. "There are documented cases in which children were physically abused, denied communication with their families in Ukraine, and given inadequate access to food and care after being taken to Russia." The fact sheet goes on to accuse Russia of a "systematic campaign of forcibly moving children from Ukraine into Russia, fracturing their connection to Ukrainian language and heritage through 're-education,' and even disconnecting children from their Ukrainian identities through adoption."
• An arrest warrant was issued two years ago for Putin by the International Criminal Court that alleges he committed war crimes by illegally transferring Ukrainian children to Russia, an accusation that the Kremlin at the time called "outrageous and unacceptable."