Grim Twist in Mass Abduction of Children During Putin’s War

The Belarusian Red Cross chief admitted Wednesday that Belarus has taken children from Ukraine, adding to accusations of mass illegal deportations taking place during Russia’s invasion.

“To be honest, the fact is that the Belarusian Red Cross has taken an active part in this—and is taking, and will continue to do so."

Dmitry Shevtsov, the chairman of the Belarusian Red Cross, said on a Belarus 1 TV channel broadcast from the Donbas in Ukraine, according to Zerkalo.

Some of the children that have been taken from Ukraine went missing in the Russian Federation after being sent to Belarus, according to Pavel Latushko, the head of the National Anti-Crisis Management and representative of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, TV Rain reported.

“The latest data we have is… they’ve disappeared, their trail’s gone cold on the territory of the Russian Federation. We can’t report information on where they are currently,” he said, according to Novaya Gazeta.

The stunning admissions come as members of European Parliament have called for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko for helping Russia wage war in Ukraine and for partaking in Russia’s forcible deportation of Ukrainian children.

Shevtsov said he was upset by accusations that Belarus was kidnapping the children, and instead claimed Minsk was helping them, echoing claims made by Lukashenko himself.

“I was outraged to the core by the fact that people, I think, are inflamed to the best of their thoughts, or they think that it is logical to do so when they accused Belarus of kidnapping children,” Shevtsov said, adding that he wanted to prove that Belarus was not kidnapping Ukrainian children.

The Belarusian Red Cross said in June it had more than 700 Ukrainian children, according to Belta.

Lukashenko has claimed he offered to bring Ukrainian children to camps in Belarus to deal with the trauma of the war, and has previously said that the project is jointly funded by Moscow and Minsk.

Arrest warrants are already issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for their role in taking children from Ukraine.

Abducting children during times of war without their consent, or their parent’s or guardian’s consent, is illegal and constitutes one of six grave violations against children during times of war as defined by the United Nations Security Council. In some cases, it can amount to war crimes and breach the Geneva Conventions.