Belarus 'Complicit' In Russia’s War Of Aggression Against Ukraine, U.S. Says

The United States said on Monday it does not know whether children taken from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia and Belarus are subjected to any kind of exploitation, but it continues to monitor this issue very closely, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"Belarus is complicit in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. It is not a disinterested third country providing safe haven for children in conflict," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily briefing when responding to TURAN's questions.

Last week, the State Department-supported Conflict Observatory reported that more than 2,400 children from Ukraine aged between 6-17 have been taken to 13 facilities across Belarus since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Yale University researchers found that more than 2,000 children were transported to the Dubrava children's centre in Belarus' Minsk region between September 2022 and May 2023. Another 392 children were taken to 12 other facilities.

"I did note that report.. It documented close coordination between Russian and Belarusian officials to facilitate these movements," Miller told TURAN's correspondent.

"These operations have disproportionately targeted vulnerable children, including purported orphans, children with disabilities, children from low-income families, and children with members of Ukraine’s military," he said.

The spokesperson went on to add, "Our information is limited. We don’t know whether the children who are deported to Russia or Belarus are being exploited further, but they remain highly vulnerable, of course, to human trafficking. So it is a matter that we continue to monitor very closely in making all of the range of assessments that you would expect us to make."