The EU adds Belarusian child-abductors to the sanctions list
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Four Belarusian citizens involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children are to be added to the 13th EU package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, reported EU Observer on Feb. 14.
Four Belarusians, including one official and three public figures close to the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko, are involved in the forcible deportation of children to Belarus and their illegal “adoption” by Russian and Belarusian families, supporting Russian propaganda, and “ideological indoctrination” among children.
Read also: Nearly 400 Ukrainian kids held in Russia, Kremlin children's official says – real total much higher
Dzmitry Shautsou, who was the general director of the Belarus Red Cross until recently, is among those to be sanctioned.
These Belarus citizens will be added to the 13th package of EU sanctions against Russia, to be adopted by EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Feb. 19.
Lukashenko's regime is accused of taking more than 2,400 Ukrainian children to 13 facilities in Belarus, according to a study by Yale University, according to EU Observer.
Read also: PACE unanimously adopts resolution recognizing Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children as genocide
Exiled Belarusian dissident Pavel Latushka also filed evidence demonstrating Lukashenko's role in the program with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Russia is involving "creepy non-governmental organizations" in the abduction of Ukrainian children and their deportation to Belarus, United States ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice Beth Van Schaack said on Dec. 3.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on March 17 for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Russian “Children’s Rights” Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for their involvement in the unlawful transportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on April 27 to recognize the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia as genocide.
Read also: Ukraine returns another 517 children illegally deported by Russia, some speak to Davos working group
As of Sept. 27, at least 19,546 children have been deported or forcibly displaced by Russia, reported the Ukrainian state platform Children of War.
According to the European Parliament, the number of Ukrainian children illegally taken to Russia could be as many as 300,000. MEPs believe that Russians began taking Ukrainian children back in 2014, after the occupation of Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Some 380 Ukrainian children are "under care and custody" in 15 regions across Russia, Lvova-Belova said on Nov. 9.
Read also: Over 100 Belarusian citizens detained after returning from abroad in 2023
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