Ukrainian children who are taken from the territories temporarily occupied by Russia and sent to Belarusian health camps for recreation do not always return – their trail is lost in Russia.
Source. This was stated in an interview with the Russian TV channel Dozhd by Pavel Latushko, head of the opposition group People's Anti-Crisis Management (NAU) and a representative of the Joint Transitional Cabinet of Belarus.
"The information concerns orphans who did not return to the occupied territory of Ukraine. And they disappeared, that is, they should be lost on the territory of the Russian Federation. We cannot provide more detailed information about where they are now," Latushko said.
Earlier, Latushko told the British newspaper Daily Telegraph that since September 2022, about 2,150 Ukrainian children aged 6 have been forcibly taken to Belarusian sanatoriums and then probably distributed to Russian regions.
As the publication found out, children are taken from Ukraine to Rostov-on-Don, and from there to Minsk. They are placed in several recreational camps and undergo "ideological work."
The Telegraph writes that Ukrainian children are forced to learn the Russian national anthem, speak only Russian, and are forced to renounce Ukraine before being placed in foster care or a new family. Those who disagree are beaten.
The newspaper cites as an example a video allegedly made in the Dubrava recreation camp 150 kilometers from Minsk and submitted to the International Criminal Court. In it, Belarusian singers, the Gruzdev sisters, performing for Ukrainian children, wish death to Biden and Zelensky, and wish Putin to "prosper and take control of the whole of Ukraine."
Background. On Tuesday, members of the European Parliament adopted an appeal to the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko over the deportation of Ukrainian children.
"Belarus is responsible for the damage caused to Ukraine and the crimes committed in Ukraine, including through the regime's role in the illegal movement of children," the European Parliament said in a press release.
It was also reported that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are conducting secret negotiations with Russia and Ukraine on the return of the abducted Ukrainian children.