Borrell: Lukashenko’s regime facilitated illegal deportation of Ukrainian children
The Belarusian regime is an accomplice in Russia's illegal aggressive war against Ukraine and helps Russia kidnap Ukrainian children.
This is stated in a statement by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, which was distributed by the European External Action Service on Thursday, August 8, Censor.NET reports with reference to Ukrinform.
The statement was released on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the falsified presidential election in Belarus in August 2020.
As noted, in addition to Russia's political, military, and logistical support, the Lukashenko regime "facilitated the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children from the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia."
The report also mentions that the Belarusian authorities continue "a large-scale campaign of violence and intimidation against its own people." There are approximately 1400 political prisoners in Belarusian prisons, and this is only a small part of those who have been put through the penitentiary system in politically motivated cases since 2020. Lukashenko is conducting total repressions against "Belarusian civil society, human rights defenders, free media and journalists, and political opposition."
For all this, the EU has imposed several rounds of sanctions on the regime and its supporters.
As reported, according to Yale University, more than 2,400 Ukrainian children aged 6 to 17 have been illegally taken to Belarus since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine claims that more than 19,000 Ukrainian children have been deported and/or forcibly displaced.
