Yale University's Laboratory for Humanitarian Studies, which receives funding from the U.S. Department of State, has published a study on the role of Belarus in the abduction of Ukrainian children from the territories occupied by Russia.
Source. This was reported by Reuters with reference to a study by Yale University.
It shows that at least 2,400 children aged 6 to 17 were sent to Belarus. This is a minimum estimate, and the real number could be much higher.
In May, Ukrainian prosecutors announced an investigation into Belarus' involvement in the abduction of more than 19,000 Ukrainian children.
The investigators found that from September 2022 to May 2023, children were moved from at least 17 cities in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.
More than 2,000 of them ended up in the Dubrava children's camp near Minsk, and another 392 in 12 other Belarusian institutions. There, they were re-educated and underwent military training.
Alexander Lukashenko approved the use of public funds for their transportation, the researchers write. It is unclear where these children are now, the report says.
"The federal government of Russia and the regime of Belarus are working together to coordinate and finance the movement of children from Russian-occupied Ukraine through Russia to Belarus," the report says.
The transfer of minors across state borders without the consent of a parent or guardian is prohibited by international humanitarian law.
Russia, however, has in the past denied accusations of this crime and insisted that it was only providing humanitarian assistance to those who wanted to voluntarily leave Ukraine.
As a reminder, the Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin himself are subject to arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant issued in connection with allegations of abductions of Ukrainian children.
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