Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin pose for a photograph previous to a gathering in Minsk, Belarus, on Nov. 23.

Konstantin Zavrazhin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo through AP, File

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Konstantin Zavrazhin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo through AP, File

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin pose for a photograph previous to a gathering in Minsk, Belarus, on Nov. 23.

Konstantin Zavrazhin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo through AP, File

TALLINN, Estonia — Belarus’ authoritarian president on Thursday attended a government-organized assembly with kids introduced from Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine, brazenly defying a world outrage over his nation’s involvement in Moscow’s deportation of Ukrainian children.

Speaking on the occasion marking the arrival of a brand new group of Ukrainian kids forward of the New Year vacation, President Alexander Lukashenko vowed to “embrace these children, bring them to our home, keep them warm and make their childhood happier.”

Belarusian officers didn’t say what number of Ukrainian kids had been introduced into the nation.

A current examine by Yale University has discovered that greater than 2,400 Ukrainian kids aged 6-17 have been dropped at Belarus from 4 Ukrainian areas which were partially occupied by Russian forces. The Belarusian opposition has urged the International Criminal Court to carry Lukashenko and his officers accountable for his or her involvement within the unlawful switch of Ukrainian kids.

Pavel Latushka, a former Belarusian tradition minister turned opposition activist who has introduced the ICC with proof of Lukashenko’s alleged involvement within the illegal deportation of the kids, stated the arrival of a brand new group from Russia-occupied territories “underlines the need for the ICC to investigate those crimes.”

“Lukashenko, his family members and associates together with the Kremlin have organized a system of transfer of Ukrainian children, including orphans, from the occupied territories to Belarus, and this channel is still working,” Latushka instructed The Associated Press.

In March, the ICC issued arrest warrants for each Russian President Vladimir Putin and his kids’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of the struggle crimes of illegal deportation of kids and illegal switch of kids from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. Moscow has rejected the allegations.

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated in televised remarks Thursday that the switch of hundreds of Ukrainian kids to Belarus helped Moscow cowl up the details about the illegal deportation of kids.

Earlier this month, the International Red Cross suspended the group’s Belarusian chapter after its chief, Dzmitry Shautsou, stirred worldwide outrage for boasting that it was actively ferrying Ukrainian kids from Russian-controlled areas to Belarus.

Shautsou referred to as the transfer “absolutely politicized,” claiming that Ukrainian kids who visited Belarus for “health improvement” returned house safely.

Belarus has been Moscow’s closest ally because the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, when Lukashenko allowed the Kremlin to make use of his nation’s territory to invade Ukraine. Russia has additionally deployed some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.