The drive was announced by European Commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Spinant told a news conference in Brussels: "It was estimated that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian forces have sent thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia. Kidnapping of Ukrainian children is a big social issue, tragedy and crime."
She added, as quoted by the European Pravda website: "This is why, in conjunction with Poland, we launch this initiative with the support of the UN agencies. Our goal is to unite the forces in order to collect evidence, find the kidnapped children and prosecute those responsible for these crimes."
Spinant said the initiative would be led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the PAP news agency reported.
She added that more detailed information about the initiative would be provided in the coming days.
Poland has long advocated action to stop the abductions of Ukrainian children to Russia, according to officials.
On Friday, the Polish ambassador to the EU, Andrzej Sadoś, said Poland had demanded EU action on the issue as a condition for backing the bloc's 10th sanctions package against Russia.
The new round of punitive measures, adopted on Saturday, includes sanctions against individuals involved in kidnapping Ukrainian children and deporting them to Russia, European Pravda reported.
Monday is day 369 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, eurointegration.com.ua