The flags of Ukraine and Europe stand against Parliamentary Assembly branding at the Palais de l’Europe during PACE’s autumn plenary session. Strasbourg, France, 29 September 2026. Сцягі Украіны і Еўропы на фоне сімволікі Парламенцкай асамблеі ў Палацы Еўропы падчас восеньскай пленарнай сесіі ПАСЕ. Страсбург, Францыя, 29 верасня 2026 года. Флаги Украины и Европы на фоне символики Парламентской ассамблеи во Дворце Европы во время осенней пленарной сессии ПАСЕ. Страсбург, Франция, 29 сентября 2026 года.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has been presented with information about the involvement of Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s regime and Belarusian state-owned enterprises in the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children.
Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet and a member of the Coordination Council, told Reform.news about this. According to him, during a meeting of the Parliamentary Network on the Situation of Ukrainian Children, he drew parliamentarians’ attention specifically to the role of Belaruskali in the transfer of children from Ukraine.
“According to investigations by the National Anti-Crisis Management, we established that at least 3,500 Ukrainian children were illegally taken to Belarus. They were subsequently subjected to indoctrination in the interests of the ‘Russian world’”, Latushka said.
He recalled that materials collected by the National Anti-Crisis Management were also provided to a research laboratory at Yale University.
“We provided our materials to a research laboratory at Yale University in the United States, which also published its report. In that report, they stated that 2,400 children had been taken to Belarus”, he said.
Latushka placed particular emphasis on Belaruskali’s involvement. According to the National Anti-Crisis Management, a significant number of the children taken from Ukraine stayed at the Dubrava sanatorium, which belongs to the company.
“According to the information we established, at least 2,050 Ukrainian children were transferred to the Dubrava camp, which is owned by Belaruskali. Thus, Belaruskali is the main financial sponsor of the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Belarus and their subsequent indoctrination in the interests of the ‘Russian world’”, Latushka said.
According to him, some of the children were subsequently transferred from Belarus to Russia.
“A number of these children were later transported to the Russian Federation and included on adoption lists. This is what happened in the case of orphaned children”, the politician said.
Against the backdrop of discussions about a possible easing of restrictions on Belarus’ potash industry, Latushka urged European parliamentarians to take these circumstances into account when discussing sanctions policy.
“Recently, lobbyists have been calling for sanctions on Belarusian potash to be lifted so that it can be supplied to the European Union and transited through countries such as Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. I addressed parliamentarians, primarily from European Union member states that are also members of the Council of Europe, and urged them to pay attention to this issue and not allow sanctions on Belaruskali to be lifted until the Ukrainian children have been returned, systemic changes have taken place in Belarus in the field of human rights, and all political prisoners have been released”, he said.
Latushka also said that the European Commission had previously requested additional materials from the National Anti-Crisis Management concerning the involvement of Belarusian state-owned enterprises in the transfer of Ukrainian children.
“At the beginning of the year, the European Commission approached us requesting additional evidence of the involvement of Belaruskali and a number of other state-owned enterprises in illegal activities. After we provided the relevant information, the European Union’s sanctions decisions now explicitly state that Belaruskali and its management, including former CEO Halavaty, are responsible for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Belarus”, he said.
According to Latushka, the grounds for maintaining European sanctions against a number of Belarusian enterprises are now much broader than human rights violations within the country.
“A number of Belarusian companies that were sanctioned for human rights violations in Belarus and for facilitating hybrid aggression against the European Union have subsequently had their role in supporting aggression and committing war crimes against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people added as further grounds in the sanctions decisions. Therefore, these sanctions now generally have a sufficiently broad basis, ranging from human rights issues in Belarus to everything related to the aggression against Ukraine and the role of Lukashenka’s regime in it”, he noted.
Latushka also opposed easing sanctions on enterprises in Belarus’ military-industrial complex that continue to cooperate with Russia.
“I do not think it would be right to consider lifting sanctions on them now if they are producing weapons or assisting the Russian military-industrial complex in manufacturing weapons that are being used against Ukraine and killing Ukrainians”, he said.
Latushka also stressed that he had provided this information to the US side the previous day.
“We provided our partners at the State Department with a complete package of information about Belaruskali’s role in the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children. I thanked the Americans for their efforts to secure the release of political prisoners, but they should also have information about what Belaruskali and its management actually did”, Pavel Latushka told a Reform.news journalist.