Ukraine starts investigation into child abduction by Belarusian Red Cross

The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has launched an investigation into the participation of the Belarusian Red Cross in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.

Ukraine's Prosecutor Andrii Kostin stresses the participation of the Belarusian Red Cross in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children is complicity in the commission of an international crime.

This organisation grossly violates the norms of the Geneva Conventions, as well as the fundamental principles of the Red Cross Movement. We hope that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will address this breach of integrity and take appropriate action.

This statement follows the Belarusian Red Cross report on more than 700 children from Ukraine who had been brought to Belarus.

The video showed the Secretary General of the Belarusian Red Cross, Dmitry Shevtsov, noting that his organization was involved in the "rehabilitation" of Ukrainian children during a trip to occupied regions.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for the head of the Belarusian Red Cross.

Subsequently, the International Red Cross office along with the Ukrainian office announced their investigation into Shevtsov's case.

The self-proclaimed President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has been numerously claimed for involvement into the forced deportation of several thousand Ukrainian children to Belarus.