Russians transport Ukrainian children from occupied territories through Belarus
Russians transport Ukrainian children from occupied territories through Belarus (photo: Getty Images)
Russia is using Belarus to covertly deport children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, states Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets.
According to the Ombudsman, the Russians always make lists of children taken to Russia.
"We are recording a new systemic problem of Russians deporting Ukrainian children through the territory of Belarus. According to my information, they are constantly compiling new lists of children who are currently in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, in particular in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, who will be taken to Russia through Belarus," he said.
In this way, the Commissioner believes, the Russians can hide the information that the children are in Russia.
"That is, establishing the fact of deportation and verifying the child is a painstaking job. We need to establish who took the children, where they came from, and how they brought them to the territory of the Russian Federation. And when this happens through the territory of Belarus, how can we find such information on its territory? It is extremely difficult," Lubinets explained.
The Ombudsman believes that the number of children abducted by Russia in Belarus could reach thousands. But he believes they are there temporarily. After all, Belarus is an intermediate point.
Abduction of children by Russia
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Russia has been systematically taking Ukrainian children to the occupied Crimea, Belarus, or remote regions of Russia.
Earlier, we reported that due to the illegal deportation of children, the International Criminal Court in the Hague issued an arrest warrant for dictator Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.
