Child from Belarus adopted in Poland after mother's death. Now court ruled to return the boy to his homeland

Belarusian pensioner Hanna Kanavalava, who adopted the children. Photo: wyborcza.pl

A Warsaw court has ruled to transfer a seven-year-old boy from Belarus, who lives in a foster family in Poland, to his biological father in Minsk. The high-profile case is reported by "Belsat" with reference to Wyborcza.

The boy, along with his mother and older half-brother Yauhen, who was 14 at the time, came from Belarus to Poland in 2021 after the protests and later received international protection.

Polish welfare authorities quickly learned about the woman's alcohol and drug addictions, as well as her involvement in prostitution, and removed the children from the family.

They were adopted by another Belarusian – pensioner Hanna Kanavalava, who previously worked as a furniture saleswoman and now lives in Warsaw's Mokotów district. She had been looking after her two grandchildren, aged 6 and 8, while their mother, Antanina Kanavalava, convicted for political reasons, was serving her sentence in Belarus.

At the time of the adoption in 2023, the younger Ales, who was four years old, couldn't use the toilet, spoke poorly, and was addicted to TikTok. In 2024, their biological mother died of an overdose.

In August 2023, Ales's biological father Siarhei, previously sentenced to nine years in a penal colony for drug trafficking, contacted the family.

After Hanna helped Siarhei get a visa to Poland, he began visiting Ales on average once a month. He spent time with his son and brought him gifts, but the following year he lost his visa, and their communication was limited to phone calls, which, according to Hanna, also occurred no more than once a month.

Then the man decided to return the child to Belarus and appealed to the court in Warsaw. In March 2026, the court ruled to transfer the child to the father. The judges decided that the minor's interests "are primarily realized through upbringing by his own father."

However, the human rights foundation Partyzanka notes that the child received international protection in Poland precisely because of the risk of return to Belarus, so he cannot return there. Lawyers say that, "if the [Belarusian] regime wants to use the child for propaganda purposes, it will do so, even if the father resists."

The child may leave the country as early as June 27, although the first-instance court's decision has not yet entered into force. The foster family has already filed an appeal.

"In less than two weeks, Ales could be in Belarus. I'm afraid we will never see him again," says Hanna Kanavalava.

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