WASHINGTON DC – A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has quietly introduced new legislation that would dramatically expand the scope of US assistance to Ukraine, shifting focus away from heavy military hardware and toward a sensitive new front: deploying US law enforcement and intelligence capabilities to help Kyiv locate and return thousands of prisoners of war, civilian detainees, and forcibly transferred Ukrainian children.
The bill, H.R. 5962, was dropped into the legislative hopper Friday night with little fanfare, but its implications are massive, congressional sources told the Kyiv Post on Saturday.
It authorizes the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of State to provide technical assistance, training, and advisory support to Ukraine, explicitly naming the goal as achieving the exchange of prisoners, the release of civilian detainees, and – most notably – the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia.
The effort is being spearheaded by a powerful bipartisan coalition, underscoring the broad consensus on accountability for Russian war crimes. The lead sponsor, Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH), is joined by fellow Democrat Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA), alongside Republicans Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC).
Crucially, it comes even as other forms of Ukraine aid face increasing scrutiny within the GOP conference.
New frontier of aid
While the bulk of the debate on Capitol Hill has revolved around Javelins, HIMARS, and financial aid, the new resolution – H.R. 5962 – taps into a far more complex and politically fraught area: the “shadow war” of intelligence gathering and legal enforcement.
“This isn’t about tanks; it’s about tracing,” said one Hill staffer familiar with the bill’s drafting, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive legislation.
The source continued: “The Ukrainians are trying to build war crimes cases and locate thousands of missing persons, often relying on murky intelligence. Bringing the investigative capacity of the DOJ and the diplomatic muscle of the State Department into this process fundamentally changes the game.”
The bill’s focus on POWs and the estimated 20,000 children forcibly removed from Ukraine to Russia, according to Kyiv’s figures, provides a powerful moral anchor that transcends typical partisan boundaries. This focus is key, as Republicans who may be skeptical of large-scale military or budgetary assistance are often strong proponents of human rights and accountability.
The referral of the bill to the House Foreign Affairs Committee means it avoids the jurisdiction of committees where more hawkish isolationists hold sway, giving it a clearer path to a markup.
The expectation among advocates is that the legislation could be attached to a larger, must-pass foreign policy package or a defense authorization bill later this year.
“This bill operationalizes the moral high ground,” a source close to the Foreign Affairs Committee observed.
“It gives our agencies the legal footing to do what they’ve mostly been doing informally – lending expertise to help Kyiv run a highly specialized counter-intelligence and humanitarian operation,” the source added.
Ultimately, for Congress, “it’s a tangible way to support accountability without wading into the ongoing spending battles,” another congressional staffer emphasized.