State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Dec. 4. "We will continue to promote accountability for perpetrators and support efforts to return Ukraine’s children," he added. Since February 2022, at least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted from Russian-occupied territories and sent to other Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine or to Russia itself, according to a Ukrainian national database "Children of War." Less than 400 have been returned to Ukraine. A Yale School of Public Health study published on Dec. 3 details Russia's systematic program of deporting and forcibly assimilating Ukrainian children. Under orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin, children were transported via military aircraft in 2022, reclassified in Russian databases as native-born, and subjected to pro-Russian re-education before being adopted into Russian families.