July 24, 2023

Taken from Home to Belarus


Taken from Home to Belarus
Mario Azzi, Unsplash.

Children from the Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia are being sent to Belarusian "health" camps. However, not all of these children make it back home and instead become untraceable, reports independent media outlet Dozhd.

“They have disappeared, that is, their trace was lost on the territory of the Russian Federation. We cannot further provide information about where they are currently located,” said Pavel Latushko, who serves as the head of the People’s Anti-Crisis Directorate of Belarus. He was unable to disclose the number of children that have gone missing, or what might have happened to the children.

Russian-appointed authorities in the annexed territories assert that orphans from local orphanages are sent to Belarus for "recovery." In June, Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev made a statement revealing that over two thousand children from the annexed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic were sent on what was termed a "vacation" to a sanatorium near the Belarusian capital, Minsk.

This case is similar to other allegations of illegal deportations in recent months. In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin for his alleged involvement in moving children from occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia. Notably, the ICC also issued a similar warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, who holds the position of Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights.

You Might Also Like

Medieval Musings
  • June 13, 2023

Medieval Musings

A medieval guide to life and ethics may be integrated into the Russian education system.
Masha, The War Criminal
  • March 22, 2023

Masha, The War Criminal

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova. Who is she?
The Wrong Kind of Patriotism
  • November 30, 2022

The Wrong Kind of Patriotism

A student in Karelia was reportedly disciplined for wearing a sweatshirt with an American flag on it.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955