Near Ilovajsk Belarusians fought against Russian troops

Combatants of “Pahonya” unit took part in military operations in Ukraine.

“Radio Svaboda” was informed about that by a deputy chairman of Volyn regional council Ihor Huz, one of the organisers of the volunteer unit from the Ukrainian side.

As said by Ihor Huz, as for today, part of “Pahonya” fighters are staying at the front in Donbas, but most volunteers were drawn out to Western Ukraine. Several persons are in hospitals with light injuries, some need psychological rehabilitation after participation in heavy fighting, including the battle for Ilovaisk. Several more Belarusians went abroad, to the countries of their permanent residence.

But all “Pahonya” fighters are ready to go to the front again, in case the truce would not last, Huz says.

Belarusians were in “mousetrap” near Ilovaisk

The Belarusian combatants to whom Huz communicates to, had a negative view on the truce and passing the law on a special status of Donbas.

“Both Belarusians and Ukrainians who are fighting with machine guns in their hands at the fronts, they think that it is not a completely right attitude. But there is a discussion there: Ukrainians are divided, there are different opinions. Basically, when we speak about the people who are not at the front, they are rather positive, as it means peace. But the fighters who are there, they are critical about this issue,” Ihor Huz said.

Huz told that Belarusian volunteers were in the entrapment near Ilovaisk, and they were fighting against Russian professional military there. “All those who were in the “entrapment”, had a contact to Russian troops in this or that stage. Even when you are attacked by Grads there, it is a contact, a fight specifically against Russians, and now against terrorists and separatists,” Huz emphasized.

There are no killed in battle among “Pahonya” fighters as of today, there are only injured. But Belarusians are fight not only in “Pahonya” unit, and it is not knows whether there are deceased among them.

“Besides “Pahonya”, many Belarusians joined other battalions, mainly volunteer ones, on their own initiative. There are people who lived in Ukraine, there are citizens of Ukraine, but they are ethnic Belarusians. There are many such people. But they are not a part of “Pahonya” network.”

“Pahonya” follows UPA pattern

“Pahonya” volunteer unit does not exist as a separate military unit. Belarusian combatants are distributed between different units, but they have common coordination, Ihor Huz says: “They are united, they have a commander, but they do not exist as a separate structure. You know, we fear that KGB agents might infiltrate the structure of “Pahonya”, and if it were a separate group of, let’s say, 30 persons fighting as one unit, they could become easy to spot. The pattern of the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) was very simple: they formed groups of 3-5-7 persons, who were autonomous, they had commanders, and only they knew those people. Such a system has been adapted for “Pahonya” unit now. It is right. And for example fighters from one mini-unit may not know other guys, only commanders know them.”

Division of “Pahonya” fighters in separate groups also has additional sense: Belarusians additionally have a propagandistic mission at the front: they demonstrate that resistance to the Russian aggression is not just a problem of Ukraine, but of the bordering countries as well,” Huz says:

“It is understandable that several dozens of “Pahonya” combatants are not a game-changer, and they will not make a great difference at the front. But from the point of view of propaganda, from the point of view of solidarity between our nations, it is a very good thing,” Huz stressed.

“To find and crack down on”

Ihor Huz notes that in connection with the pressure of Belarusian special services, now “Pahonya” is trying not to reveal any information about its activities, and combatants do not agree for an interview even on the conditions of anonymity.

Recently cyber-attacks at “Pahonya” accounts in social networks have taken place, the email box was hacked, and PayPal account blocked.

“There are combatants singled out while they were crossing the border of Ukraine, there are combatants whose houses were visited by policemen, there are facts when their Internet pages are hacked. These actions’ aim is not only to localize this process, but mostly to spot the members of “Pahonya” and later crack down on them,” Huz stressed.

Belarusian special services have not performed any actions against “Pahonya” fighters at the territory of Ukraine. There is no information about detentions or arrests in Belarus of volunteers or those who helped them either. But all the same the situation remains tense.

“Several fighters, who had come to light, have experienced a psychological pressure. It is difficult to realize that while you are fighting here, your relatives are left in another country, and tomorrow you may not be able to enter Belarus, there will be criminal cases opened… It is very hard,” Huz said.

Some “Pahonya” fighters are unlikely to return to Belarus, he says. “There are some guys, not that they have fear, but they do not want to put their relatives in danger, and after this situation they are going to stay in Ukraine or in Western countries for a long time, as we already have information they had been spotted, identified, and it is inadvisable for them to return to Belarus now,” Ihor Huz said.