According to research published by Yale University, over 2,400 children from Ukraine between the ages of six and 17 have been forcibly taken to 13 facilities across Belarus since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. This study sheds light on the alleged role of Belarus in the forced transfer of more than 19,000 identified children from Russian-occupied territories, including to Russia. The total number of affected children is believed to be even higher than reported. The findings, conducted by the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health and funded by the US State Department, provide the most comprehensive information to date on the involvement of Belarus in the Russian relocation program for Ukrainian children.

The report reveals that children were transported from at least 17 cities in Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, suggesting an ongoing practice. Of the identified children, more than 2,000 were taken to the Dubrava children's center in Belarus' Minsk region between September 2022 and May 2023. An additional 392 children were relocated to 12 other facilities. The report also highlights the systematic effort made by Russia to identify, collect, transport, and re-educate Ukrainian children, with the assistance of the Belarusian government.

The coordination and funding of these activities involved Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus' leader Alexander Lukashenko. The gravity of these actions is further underscored by an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for Putin and Russia's Children's Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova. The arrest warrant accuses them of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. International humanitarian law prohibits the transportation of children under the age of 18 across a border without the consent of a parent or guardian.

Ukrainian war crimes prosecutors are also investigating the deportations as potential genocide. The Genocide Convention, adopted by the UN General Assembly, specifies that forcibly transferring children from their group can be considered a crime if done with genocidal intent. Once in Belarus, the children have reportedly been subjected to military training and re-education. Belarusian leader Lukashenko authorized the use of state organizations to transport the children from Ukraine to Belarus and fund their transportation. The current whereabouts of these children remain unclear.

Requests for comment from Russia's Children's Rights Commissioner and Belarus' foreign ministry regarding the research findings have gone unanswered. Likewise, Ukraine's foreign ministry and the office of the prosecutor general, responsible for war crimes investigations, have not responded to requests for comment. The urgent need to address this situation cannot be emphasized enough, as the well-being and rights of these children hang in the balance.