Ukraine may open criminal proceedings against Lukashenko for complicity in the RF’s war

Ukraine may open criminal proceedings against Lukashenko for complicity in the RF’s war

The Office of the President of Ukraine has sent a proposal to the Prosecutor General to consider opening a criminal case against Belarusian leader Oleksandr Lukashenko.

This is reported by Reuters.

The letter from Zelenskyy’s office states that it was a response to an appeal from the “Forum of Democratic Forces of Belarus.” In May, the organization sent a letter to Zelenskyy requesting that Lukashenko be held accountable for “war crimes, genocide, and state terror.”

According to the letter, Zelenskyy’s office asked the Prosecutor General to examine the possibility of opening a criminal case against Lukashenko.

The Forum accused him of complicity in Russia’s war against Ukraine, as well as the deportation of at least 2,442 Ukrainian children to Belarus under a program documented by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab. In 2023, Lukashenko claimed that Belarus had temporarily taken in children from Ukraine to help them recover from war-related trauma.

The agency notes that there is virtually no chance of Lukashenko appearing in a Ukrainian court; however, the charges “could be used by Kyiv and the Belarusian opposition as an argument for further Western pressure on him.”

It is recalled that since February, Zelenskyy has noticeably intensified his rhetoric toward Lukashenko and imposed sanctions against him. He also regularly accuses him of plans to attack Ukraine. Lukashenko rejects these accusations and states that Belarus will enter the war only if Kyiv attacks first.