According to a study by Yale University, more than 2,400 Ukrainian children between the ages of six and 17 were transferred from four regions of Ukraine partially occupied by Russian troops to Belarus.
The study, published Thursday by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Laboratory, funded by the US State Department, concluded that “Russia’s systematic work to identify, collect, transport and reeducate children Ukrainians has been facilitated by Belarus”. and is “ultimately coordinated” between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
“Belarus’s direct involvement in Russia’s forced deportation of children represents a collaboration” between the two countries, “with several pro-Russian and pro-regime organizations facilitating the deportation of children from Ukraine,” the investigation states.
According to the study, at least 2,442 children, including children with disabilities, were brought to Belarus from 17 cities in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia between February 24, 2022 and October 30, 2023, an initiative described in great detail in the 40-page report.
From the occupied Ukrainian regions, the children were taken to the southern Russian city of Rostov and then put on a train to Belarus. The transport was financed by the Belarusian state and state organizations participated, with the approval of Lukashenko.
In total, 2,050 children were taken to the Dubrava children’s center in the Minsk region of Belarus, while the remaining 392 were distributed to 13 other facilities throughout the country. There, they received re-education and military training, including with the Belarusian police and security services, according to the report.
The document also names some important actors in this process, such as the Belarusian public figure Alyaksei Talai, the Belarusian state potash producer Belaruskali, the Belarusian Republican Youth Union, and pro-Russian ultranationalist motorcycle clubs.
Ukrainian authorities have said they are investigating the deportations as possible genocide. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine indicated that Belarus’s role in the forced deportations of more than 19,000 children from the occupied territories is also being investigated.
Earlier this year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for their alleged involvement in crimes related to the forcible deportation of children from Ukraine and issued arrest warrants. arrest for them.
The Belarusian opposition has tried to obtain a similar indictment for Lukashenko. Pavel Latushka, a former Belarusian minister turned opposition leader in exile, has indicated that he has provided the ICC with evidence implicating the president of Belarus.
Latushka told the American news agency Associated Press (AP) this Friday that the Yale report complements the data he and his team collected with more “horrific details” and “raises the question of international criminal prosecution of the main Belarusian criminals who organized the illegal crime.” movement of Ukrainian children to Belarus”.
“Democracy wins when there is accountability, and Lukashenko and his associates have committed thousands of crimes against Belarusians and Ukrainians,” he said.
In a statement announcing the Yale report on Thursday, the US State Department said Washington “will continue to seek accountability for those involved in abuses related to Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine that caused, according to UN data, the worst refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945) and in the last 20 months a high number of victims. not only military but also civilians, impossible to count as long as the conflict continues.
The invasion – justified by Putin with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for the security of Russia – was condemned by most of the international community, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.
Source: TSF
