Russia’s accomplice, how Belarus erases the identity of deported Ukrainian children: presentation of the report

On October 10th, 2024, at 12:30 p.m., the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center (Kyiv, 2 Khreshchatyk Street) will hold a press conference “Russia’s Accomplice, How Belarus Erases the Identity of Deported Ukrainian Children”, during which human rights defenders will present a report on the role of Belarus in re-education and militarization children from Ukraine.

Russia has been deporting and changing the identity of Ukrainian children since the beginning of the full-scale war, but little is known about the role of Belarus in such a planned policy. Therefore, human rights defenders and lawyers of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA, the Regional Human Rights Center, together with the Belarusian human rights organization “Vyasna” and BelPol, with the support of Freedom House, prepared a comprehensive study on the involvement and contribution of the Belarusian regime in the re-education and destruction of the identity of Ukrainian children.

The report traces the routes of displaced children and describes what happens to them after being moved to the territory of Belarus. This report also uses primary source data on deported Ukrainian children who became known through contacts inside Belarus.

What happens to Ukrainian children after they are taken to Belarus? How does Belarus use these children in propaganda? What is Aleksandr Lukashenko’s personal role in the relocation and re-education of children? What other subjects are responsible for this crime and how can they be brought to justice?

Speakers at the event:

• Onysiia Syniuk, Legal Analyst of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA
• Kateryna Rashevska, Lawyer of the Regional Center for Human Rights (RCHR)
• Juri Jurkevits, Program Director of Freedom House Ukraine.

Moderator: Alena Lunova, advocacy director of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA.

The press conference will be broadcast online on the ZMINA and UCMC Facebook pages, as well as on the UCMC YouTube channels in Ukrainian and English.