Stolen childhood: how the Belarusian regime is erasing Ukrainian children’s identity through displacement, re‑education, and militarization

Since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Federation has intensified its state policy of forcibly displacing Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Russia began this practice in 2014 after the illegal annexation and occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The forcible displacement of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories to Russia is part of the Kremlin’s policy of eradicating Ukrainian national and cultural identity. However, the role of the Belarusian regime and of the Union State of Russia and Belarus in aiding and abetting this policy on Belarusian territory has not received adequate attention.

With this report, Freedom House, Human Rights Centre ZMINA, the Regional Center for Human Rights (RCHR), Viasna, and the Association of Former Law Enforcement Officials in Belarus (BELPOL) seek to bring to light the complicity of the Belarusian regime and Union State’s top leadership. Drawing on hundreds of open-source materials and a significant quantity of data acquired by BELPOL and shared exclusively with Freedom House, the authors conclude that these entities are actively involved in implementing Russia’s policy of erasure through the systematic displacement, indoctrination, and militarization of Ukrainian children on Belarusian territory. While these actions take place on Belarusian territory, they benefit current Russian state policy by instilling Russian propaganda narratives.

The findings are the result of eight months of extensive research using open- and closed-source materials conducted by Ukrainian and independent Belarusian civil society organizations, coordinated by Freedom House. While there have been several investigations into the displacement of Ukrainian children, this report is the first to result from structured cooperation between Ukrainian civil society organizations (CSOs) and independent exiled Belarusian CSOs. This cooperation is crucial for developing a truly holistic understanding of the Belarusian regime’s complicity and its impact on the Ukrainian children. This report is also the first to draw upon data regarding the identities of displaced Ukrainian children leaked to BELPOL by its contacts within the Belarusian regime.

The report is available in English.