Ukraine: A new report has stated that Belarus and Russia have forcibly transferred thousands of Ukrainian children from Ukraine. According to an analysis from Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), the transfer was done through a program “directly overseen” by Belarusian President Mr. Alexander Lukashenko.
The report noted that at least 2,442 children aged between six and 17 years old had been taken to 13 facilities across Belarus since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Russia and Belarus are targeting children for removal from Ukraine, coordinating their transport from occupied Ukraine through Russia to Belarus, and subjecting children to re-education, sometimes including military training,” the Yale HRL researchers commented.
The analysts added that Mr. Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin, had jointly directed and co-funded the deportations with Russia under the Union State initiative.
“Belarus’s direct involvement in Russia’s forced deportation of children represents a collaboration between Belarus’s authoritarian leader Mr. Lukashenka and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, with various pro-Russia and pro-regime organizations facilitating the deportation,” the report further remarked.
The Yale HRL is part of the Conflict Observatory, which receives funding from the United States. “These revelations of Belarusian involvement are part of a broader campaign directed by Russia,” the US State Department said in a statement.
“Members of Russia’s military and government have deported hundreds of thousands of Ukraine’s civilians to Russia, including children who have been forcibly separated from their families. The United States will continue to pursue accountability for actors involved in abuses connected with Russia’s war against Ukraine,” the US statement added.
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