Illegal transfer of Ukrainian children was carried out based on a direct order from Alexander Lukashenko
- Pavel Latushka
- Jun 23
- 2 min read
At the initiative of the member of the Coordination Council of Belarus and delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Pavel Latushka, an amendment was included in the final PACE resolution regarding the responsibility of Alexander Lukashenko for the transfer of Ukrainian children from the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine to Belarus and through Belarusian territory to Russia. This amendment was submitted based on evidence collected by the National Anti-Crisis Management, which was presented to PACE.
Today, during the PACE summer session, the resolution "Legal and human rights aspects of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine" was considered and adopted.
The submitted amendment states that "as of 14 August 2024, at least 3,500 Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine had been forcibly transferred through or into Belarus, where these children were subjected to a Russian political, military, and religious indoctrination program. This transfer was carried out under a direct order from Alexander Lukashenko".
During the discussion of the amendment, the rapporteur for the resolution, Mr. Erik-Niiles Kross (Member of the Estonian Parliament), particularly noted that "This initiative comes from Belarusian colleagues who themselves fell under repression for collecting this evidence".
Since spring 2023, the National Anti-Crisis Management has been systematically collecting information on the illegal transfer of minors from the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine into Belarus. The relevant evidence has been submitted in two communications to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as to the General Prosecutor’s Offices of Ukraine and Lithuania.
It should be recalled that earlier, at the April PACE session, on the initiative of Pavel Latushko, another amendment was included in a different PACE resolution that envisages the necessity to extend the jurisdiction of the future Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine to the corresponding actions of the highest military-political leadership of the Lukashenko regime.