Belarusian volunteers are enlisted to fight on the side of the Ukrainians

For the young Belarusian Gleb Gunko goes to Ukraine to fight on the side of the Ukrainians and means that he also wants to fight for the freedom of his country.

“I am going to Ukraine, not only to support Ukraine, to fight for Ukraine, but also for Belarus,” said the 18-year-old, who lives in Grozje, Poland. The tattoo on his hand reads “Born Free”.

“Because our freedom also depends on the situation there,” he explained.

Hailing from Minsk, he left his country in 2020, the year President Alexander Lukashenko launched a crackdown on the opposition in Belarus, following mass demonstrations that rocked Belarus after 30 years in power. presidential elections denounced as rigged by the West.

Lukashenko, a loyal satellite of Moscow, supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But there are many Belarusians who side with Ukraine and take up arms to fight.

“Belarusians can not officially help Ukraine with weapons, like the rest of the world, but they can not stay on the sidelines, so they are going to fight for the independence of the sister country,” the Fondation Maison Bélarusse in Warsaw wrote on Facebook.

The non-governmental organization for the defense of human rights and democracy in Belarus has undertaken the organization of the mission of Belarusian volunteers in Ukraine.

Our freedom and your freedom

“In the eyes of the whole world, Lukashenko and Putin are terrorists,” said Pavel Kuchta, head of the volunteer reception center.

“I am a battle between democracy and freedom on the one hand and dictatorship on the other,” said the 24-year-old Belarusian.

Pavel Kouchta has known about the war, after he fought against the pro-Russian forces in Donbas in the period 2016-2018, where he was injured by a mine explosion.

“We fought with the slogan ‘our freedom and your freedom,'” says the professional soldier. His older brother was killed by Belarusian security forces during a crackdown on protesters.

“At that time in Donbas, we thought Putin would take over Belarus. But with Lukashenko, that was done without a shot being fired,” said Pavel Kuchta.

“Lukashenko is not deciding anything anymore. Everything is going through Russia and Putin.”

The reception center for Belarusian volunteers is full of people. Volunteers fill boxes with bulletproof vests, batteries, cans, medicines and other items necessary for the fighters. Corps of volunteers leave for Ukraine, satisfied that they are on the right side of history.

In the footsteps of grandparents

Alexei Kovalchuk, who has been working as a snowboarding teacher in Ukraine for years, admits that he feels “a kind of pleasant rage, war rage”.

Having helped evacuate a ski resort in Bukovel, western Ukraine, just before the Russian attack, he was an eyewitness to the start of the invasion.

“I saw women, children crying. I saw the fires,” said the 41-year-old, who has spent many years in the special forces.

“I saw difficult situations and thanks to friends and parents, I understand what is happening now in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kyiv and other cities,” he told AFP.

“I do not understand how they can kill civilians. I do not understand that.”

Andrei Korsak, another Belarusian volunteer, approaches, holding black and white family photos in his hands.

“I take my grandparents with me to Ukraine … They all fought in World War II. He defended Warsaw here in 1920,” he said, pointing to their portraits in military uniform.

“Today, a century later, I, their grandson, have to fight the Russian hordes in order to stop them,” said the 53-year-old Ikea employee from Polotsk, Belarus.

“I will do everything I can to stop this evil,” he said, adding that he would rather not kill anyone. easy”.

Source: AMPE