Natallia Radzina: We Should Think Of Belarus Liberation Strategy Today

The future of the country is in the hands of Belarusian men.

Belarusians should get onto a strategy of their country's liberation, and the West and Ukraine should understand that Belarus is a key country for European security. Natallia Radzina, editor-in-chief of the Charter97.org website, claims this in an interview with the Belsat TV channel.

— We hear hate speeches of common Ukrainians who may not understand what is happening in Belarus. Surely, this does not make it easier for the Belarusians who are fighting for Ukraine. Also, it certainly does not serve the common cause.

— I would have been cool with accusations against Belarusians today. It is necessary to understand the mental state of people in Ukraine now after Irpin, Bucha, Borodianka, after the Sunday bombings of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and after the Kremenchuk events. This is a terrible tragedy of the mall destruction. There were thousands of people, and the death toll could go into the hundreds.

You see, people who really lost their loved ones, their children, parents, husbands, and wives died. It is very difficult for them to explain what is really happening in Belarus in this situation. Yes, they may hate us. However, I would not argue now with these traumatized people who are going through the horrors of war.

I would think about something else. Why do so few people in Ukraine know about real developments in Belarus?

After all, the dictatorship in Belarus did not appear just in 2022, when the Lukashenka regime became a co-aggressor and a full-fledged participant in the war against Ukraine. The dictator has been ruling Belarus since 1994. However, for some reason, Ukrainian politicians continued to meet with Lukashenka: almost all the presidents of Ukraine, starting with Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko, who came on the wave of the Orange Revolution supported by Belarusians, Viktor Yanukovych (everything is clear in this case, no questions), but then Petro Poroshenko appeared, who became president after the Euromaidan, Belarusians also participated there and supported it, and Belarusian Mikhail Zhiznevsky was the first to die there.

Excellent relations had been developed again, and vibrant trade and economic activity were carried out. Everything was fine with Petro Poroshenko and Lukashenka. Negotiations were held in Minsk between the separatists of Donbas, the Ukrainian side and the Russian side. Aliaksandr Lukashenka was the first person to attend an official meeting after Volodymyr Zelensky came to power.

Ukrainian media, unfortunately, were also silent. They spoke so little about the developments in Belarus: about the dictatorship, about repressions, about the destruction of freedom of speech, political prisoners behind the bars, about the falsified elections, about the fact that Lukashenka holds his power by force of arms and had long been illegitimate. But, nevertheless, he continued to remain the most popular foreign politician in Ukraine. And Ukrainians now are simply shocked: “How come, he was our favourite politician!” They are taking this anger and disappointment out on ordinary Belarusians, who, in general, today find themselves in a hostage situation of hostages.

Because on the one hand, after 2020, when peaceful protests against the falsification of the election results were brutally suppressed, a brutal fascist regime was established in the country. On the other hand, we still have the Russian army on our territory today. The country is under Russian occupation. One can hardly explain to people in Ukraine who did not know and did not want to know anything about the situation in Belarus. There are still missile attacks on their heads from Belarus.

— It is clear that there are ordinary citizens who did not follow the situation in our country, but the Ukrainian authorities, as you say, former presidents, all had good relations with Lukashenka. The current President Volodymyr Zelensky also met with Lukashenka before the war. Are there really no ideas to develop a strategy for the liberation of Belarus, while it became clear that Lukashenka is part of the Russian aggression against Ukraine? After all, it is also in the interests of Ukraine that this threat does not exist in the north. The strategy to somehow address the Belarusians who are fighting for Ukraine, who are worried about Ukraine, and not just constantly throwing some kind of threats and inciting hatred.

— Belarusians themselves should develop a strategy for the liberation of Belarus. And today it is up to Belarusian men to think about how we can defend our freedom and independence. Therefore, I appeal to Belarusian men: think it over, because today the future of Belarus, its freedom and independence, the future of your children, and the future of your families are in your hands.

Certainly, in this situation, we are looking forward to the help and support of Ukraine, and Western countries, because it will be very difficult for us to cope on our own. The initiative must come directly from the Belarusians.

You need to think seriously about the situation in your country. It's not about the West keep issuing visas for us so that we quickly leave Belarus, but about how we can defend our country. This is the case of Belarusian men first of all.

I admire those men who left for Ukraine today and who are fighting in the ranks of the Kalinouski Regiment. We should think of a Belarus liberation strategy today.

Sure, you can urge Belarusians to take to the streets as much as you like, by the way, President Zelensky does it too, but you need to understand that taking to the streets today will not solve the problem, unfortunately. Belarusians will take to the streets, but they will come at the moment when it can really change the situation.

— You talk about the initiative from the Belarusians. There are examples of our heroic compatriots. These are the 'rail partisans', these are, as you recalled, the Belarusians who went to fight on the side of Ukraine in the Kalinouski Regiment. There was also information about the oath of the Pahonia Regiment fighters. But at the same time, in your opinion, what else needs to be done to give a national character to the national liberation movement? So that in all our Belarus people feel some kind of strength, some chances for change. People don't come out because they know it won't change the situation.

There is another alternative step. If we are talking about the liberation of the country, then this is a military option with arms. But people, even those with weapons, understand that there was a lone hero, so Andrei Zeltser shot a KGB officer who broke into his apartment. However, this did not change the situation.

— We believe that this is a rather serious issue. A good sign is that we are already talking about it and discussing it. It seems that we are faced with the situation of the impossibility of solving the Belarusian problem by non-violent resistance. All opportunities for non-violent resistance were lost. It was still possible in 2020 and 2021. This was possible as early as the end of 2021 when workers called on Belarusians to strike in order to stay at home. Today, when we are in war situations, we need to think seriously, including asking the West for help. Ukraine could also say that Belarusians have the right to fight for freedom and for their independence. It means that they need support, like Ukrainians, in this precarious situation.

— Belarus is different from Ukraine. Not all territories of Ukraine are under Russian occupation and they also have their own democratic government, a national state. There is the double occupation in Belarus, as you said.

That is, we have Russian troops together with local Gauleiter Lukashenka with his guardsmen there. If we take up arms and try to liberate Belarus, the outcome will be a civil war, and the conflict can last a very long time. There is such a kind of fear as well.

— Certainly, there are a lot of fears, but I repeat that we need to talk about the need to support the struggle of Belarusians against both the dictatorship and the Russian occupation.

First of all, of course, it is necessary to support the Kalinovsky regiment fighting in Ukraine. I know that their situation is quite difficult. They lack literally everything, from uniforms to food and ending with weapons. They need full support, these problems really need to be addressed.

Independent media working for Belarus also need support, including providing the Belarusian military with real events and events in Ukraine. This is also very important work and it also needs support.

I was recently in Brussels, attended a number of meetings and heard that 'we will deal with this issue of Lukashenka after the issue with Putin'. Look, we can solve the issue with Putin for a very long time. I hope, of course, that Russia will soon be defeated in Ukraine, but this does not mean that the Putin regime will automatically collapse. Who will replace the current KGB-mafia regime, even if we assume that he leaves the political arena?

It may happen that the West will still understand that Belarus is a strategic territory that allows Russia to threaten both Ukraine and NATO countries: Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. Maybe we will finally wrest Belarus from the clutches of Putin, deprive Putin of this convenient base, along with the ability to threaten everyone today.

— Also, an armed uprising issue requires a high level of national identity. And there are people who believe that Belarusians are not yet united enough, society is broken by the dictatorship, that people are not able to resist so massively, so it is necessary to wait out the unfavourable period, engage in cultural activities, and strengthen self-government. awareness, and then, perhaps, a window of opportunity will appear. Do you see contradictions between these two approaches, or do we not yet have time for several decades of maturation?

— Yes, I know this division into the 'positivists' and the 'romantics'. I used to be 'romantic' and always call to action. But in the end, in the 28th year of the dictatorship, the country came under Russian occupation, and missiles were launched from our territory, killing thousands of Ukrainians. That's why, for sure, we need to act. You can write novels or sing songs. Nobody's stopping you. Whatever. But, excuse me, if we do not act, then thousands and thousands of not only Ukrainians, but also Belarusians will continue to die.

— However, these years of the 'positivist' activity still had a significant impact. People rose up in 2020 because they felt a certain unity, a unity of common interests.

— People took to the streets mainly because there were leaders: Mikalai Statkevich, Pavel Sieviaryniec, Yauhen Afnahel, a huge number of people who showed by personal example and saying that without taking to the streets we would not be able to liberate Belarus. That is why these people ended up in prison and could not lead these protests, they were suppressed.

— We are often accused of being outside of Belarus, in physical safety. They say that we call people to action while in Warsaw, Vilnius and somewhere else, and people in Belarus take to the streets and then receive long-term sentences. There is such an approach, that this destroys the connection between the diasporas and those who are inside the country.

There is another approach, the experience of France in World War II, when General de Gaulle created the Resistance, the front for the liberation of France, while in London. Do not the calls for such decisive action by Belarusian politicians, while they are safe, violate moral principles?

— I am against any confrontation. You need to understand that everyone should do what is required of them.

I understand perfectly well that people in Belarus are at great risk. That is why I urge you to think about a serious strategic plan to liberate Belarus from dictatorship and occupation.