2024-01-10 16:36:02
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian authorities sent a newly arrived group of Ukrainian children to train with their military forces to learn how to evacuate in case of fire, state television reported.
kyiv and the Belarusian opposition claim that Minsk, an ally of Moscow, is carrying out the mass illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus to, critics say, indoctrinate them as pro-Russian.
Wednesday’s report mentions 35 minors from Antratsyt, a Ukrainian town occupied by Russia in the east of the country.
The state television channel Belarus1 reported that the children are staying in a sanatorium and are being cared for by employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The military forces “are teaching them how to behave in extreme situations,” said state television.
More than 2,400 Ukrainian children ages 6 to 17 have been brought to Belarus from four Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russian troops, according to a recent study by Yale University. The Belarusian opposition has called on the International Court of Justice to hold Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and officials in his government accountable for their role in the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to the nation.
Images from state television broadcast on Wednesday showed the minors with the Russian flag sewn on their sleeves. The state television program said the Belarusian military forces are carrying out “emergency survival training” for children.
During the report, screams might be heard in a smoke-filled room as the television program showed children learning to get out during a fire while clinging to the wall.
“This is not just theory, but our classes are taught in a playful format and are aimed at children,” said Evgeniy Sokolov, inspector of the Mogilev military training center for the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
For their part, Ukrainian authorities said they are investigating the children’s deportation as possible genocide. Ukraine’s attorney general has said Belarus is also under investigation for the alleged deportation of more than 19,000 children from occupied Ukrainian territories.
1704904933
#Belarus #sends #Ukrainian #children #train #military #forces #television #station
