More than 60 Belarusian volunteers who joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already been killed in the aggressive war that Russia has unleashed against Ukraine . The Belarusian volunteers do not plan to stop fighting, and their strategic goal is the de-occupation of Belarus from Russian troops and the dismantling of Lukashenko's regime. UNN spoke with Vadim Kabanchuk, deputy commander of the Kastus Kalinowski Regiment, and Denis Prokhorov, one of the founders and leaders of the Kalinowski Public Movement.
The Kastus Kalynovskyi Regiment was founded in March 2022 and is part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The purpose of the armed formation is to protect Ukraine from Russian aggression. The unit is composed of Belarusian volunteers.
The regiment was named in honor of Kastus Kalinowski, the leader of the national liberation uprising of 1863-1864 in the Belarusian-Lithuanian lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian rule, and a national hero of Belarus.
Kalynowski's regiment consists of the Volat and Litwin battalions.
The regiment's volunteers consider Russia a common enemy of Belarus and Ukraine. They hope that the liberation of Ukraine from the Russian invaders will inevitably lead to a weakening and possibly the beginning of the collapse of the Putin regime. This, in turn, will put an end to the history of Lukashenka's regime in Belarus.
Members of the combat unit took part in the battles for Irpin, Bucha, Kupiansk, Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Bakhmut, and fought against the Russian occupiers in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.
Public Movement "Kalynovtsi"
The Movement was founded on the basis of the Kalinowski Regiment to strengthen the military-political component of the development of national liberation progress. The strategic goal of the Movement is to unite the capabilities and resources of Belarusian paramilitary, military and public associations and initiatives, as well as representatives of Belarusian democratic forces in order to restore democratic and constitutional order in the Republic of Belarus
Vadym Kabanchuk, deputy commander of the Kastus Kalynovskyi Regiment
- In general, in your opinion, to what extent are people in Belarus ready and waiting for the right opportunity to act, to what extent is the partisan movement within the country "alive"?
We had an illustrative year in 2020, when we saw that for the first time in the history of Belarus, people took to the streets in such numbers. According to Chatham House, there were up to a million protesters. The population of Belarus is 9 million, which is a very large number. It was in fact a kind of popular referendum on distrust of Lukashenka's government, on disagreement with the fact that he illegally seized and controls power.
When the full-scale war began in 2022, people took to the streets again. Not in such numbers, because large-scale repressions had already begun and many of those people received very long sentences. Now we have probably a thousand political prisoners there. No one knows the exact number of them. In such conditions, a broad movement of partisan resistance is not possible, because Belarus is such a centralized dictatorship that was able to establish a police regime there a couple of decades ago. In total, Lukashenko has been in power for 30 years. Therefore, in such conditions, Belarusians do what they can do.
We know that there were actions on the chugunnychnykh (railroad) tracks, on the railroad. There were actions to stop traffic when the Muscovite convoy was moving to Ukraine. Cyber guerrillas blocked the Belarusian iron railroad. There were actions when people came out to protest in the centers of their cities. Today, we see that from time to time single guerrilla actions take place. There was, for example, an action with an airplane in Machulishcha, when the plane was damaged.
I think that the majority of the Belarusian people are waiting for a favorable moment when they can once again oppose the dictatorship.
- Do you count on the power bloc in Belarus? How long is Lukashenko holding on to it and is it possible that people there are also waiting for the right moment?
According to our information, Lukashenko did not dare to give the order to invade Ukraine in 2022, because they saw that the army did not want to carry out this order and was not loyal to Lukashenko's regime, and this stopped them. Because otherwise, in a negative scenario for Lukashenko, he would have lost power long ago.
I think that this factor of more than 30 years of such quasi-independence of Belarus has given its result, because people and the military, as part of our society, still imagine themselves in an independent state. The only question here is that we need to correct the historical mistake of 1994, when more Belarusians voted for Lukashenka.
- What is the current situation at the frontline and is there any improvement in the supply of weapons and ammunition?
We see that the front is actually standing. The Russians have no breakthroughs, despite what their propaganda says. The guys are holding on, it's definitely hard, because the Russians have air superiority, where they often use bombs, against which there is almost no resistance.
In my personal opinion, I do not think that Russia will have any major successes on the front in the near future. Another issue is the liberation of Ukrainian lands that are under occupation, but this is a question for our allies regarding the aid that goes to Ukraine.
- Regarding the recruitment of volunteers to the battalion, how are they actively joining it now, how is it being attracted?
We are recruiting, and it hasn't stopped. The only question here is that, as we all understand, the third year of the conflict is making itself felt. Some people are tired, some may not see such a quick prospect of change, and I will say that compared to 2022, the flow of volunteers has decreased.
- You have voiced the idea of creating a Belarusian battalion within the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade named after the Grand Hetman Konstantin Ostrozky on the territory of Poland and Ukraine, what is the situation with this
What I know is that it is still at the level of our idea, so this idea needs to be filled. I know that President Zelensky recently announced that the formation of the Ukrainian Legion will begin in Poland. Maybe within the framework of this legion, some Belarusians will be able to serve. Because there are a lot of our guys and girls who are not able to come to Ukraine for reasons of documents and other reasons.
Do you have any ideas or plans to cooperate in the future with the units of the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) and the Siberian Battalion?
At the front, we sometimes cross paths with them, and there is sometimes combat cooperation. I can't say yet whether there will be some kind of socio-political component, because we still have slightly different vectors. What unites us is the common struggle against the Russian empire.
- So, have you already carried out certain special operations together?
We are part of the same Ukrainian and foreign legion.
Denys Prokhorov, one of the founders and leaders of the Kalynovtsy Civil Movement
- You have recently met with Belarusians abroad, what is their mood there? What is their attitude towards the so-called authorities of Belarus and Russia? Are they ready for actions, rallies, and the overthrow of the Belarusian government in the future?”
Of course, Belarusians want to return home to Belarus. Of course, the wave of super-democratic decisions has fallen a little bit, and everyone realizes that we need to talk differently with the dictator Lukashenka. That is, at least to have weapons and experience to go to the table, so to speak, to negotiate. Because I have been promoting the idea that perhaps even the liberation of Belarus can happen without firing a single shot, and this is our goal. But for this to happen, everyone must realize that Lukashenko will only talk to those who can deal him some kind of blow. Belarusians realize this. They also realize that there is a war going on. That is, Belarusian volunteers are destroying the enemy here and now in Ukraine. And they are very respectful of this act, and they have always asked how to help us. That is, there is a certain request for help, it does not disappear. But at the same time, there are moments when certain Belarusians were not ready to go to Ukraine, because it is difficult to take such a step. But they were ready, so to speak, to study here and now, for example, in European countries, to get some skills and feel more secure at time X, so to speak.
- After the meetings abroad, how many volunteers have come to study abroad or join volunteer movements? How actively are the ranks being replenished?
As for our regiment named after Kastus Kalynowski. We have our own personal reserve, which is located in Europe. They train periodically, every weekend. We have our own initiatives for them to train. I can give you a figure of hundreds of Belarusians who are interested in keeping the group, that is, the Belarusian diaspora, and of them, I think at least half are interested in training. They find different methods to join the reserve that is training.