Boryslav Bereza: There Are Plenty Of People In Ukraine Who Want To Crack Down Mustached Cockroach

Ukrainians will help their Belorussian brothers to become free.

What feats do Ukrainians perform on the frontlines of the war against Russia? Is Lukashenka an independent figure? Why didn’t Ukrainian politicians believe in an attack from the territory of Belarus until it started?

Boryslav Bereza, co-founder and former head of the information department of the Right Sector party, ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and member of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE, political activist and fighter of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told Charter97.org about this.

— Boryslav, you are a well-known person in Ukraine, and now you are also defending your country with arms in your hands. Are there many famous Ukrainians now in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine?

— Enough. There are lawyers, musicians, athletes, and politicians: all those who care about Ukraine. However, we must not forget about other people who are helping Ukraine in their places today: someone volunteers, someone works on the information front, someone pays taxes and thereby helps Ukraine. This is all the common help. Unity is the strength of Ukraine today. That is how we can defeat our enemy.

— Every day Ukrainians perform real feats. What feats of incredible bravery and courage of your compatriots do you personally remember?

— An example of a feat is when an ordinary employee of Ukrposhta shot down several aircraft or helicopters in one day after putting on a uniform and taking a Stinger. These are fantastic stories that our citizens have brought to life.

I can say that when soldiers sacrifice their lives to get their comrades out of the shelling of the Russians, this is already a daily routine. Although, it is considered a feat all over the world. It's just that Ukrainians are accustomed to living for today, performing feats every day. For us, this is already becoming a daily thing.

When, next to me, the former chief engineer of a large enterprise, who is today the commander of a mortar battery, personally destroys an ammunition depot of the Russian army from an virtually unbelievable distance, we can consider it to be a miracle. He stops the possibility of a Russian attack, but for him it is a routine job to protect Ukraine from the aggressor. Ukrainians today are maximum mobilized, each of us in our places, each does wonders. And these wonders come true.

When our unit needed a car, I asked Ihor Smelyansky, the head of Ukrposhta. I asked for the 'Russian warship, go …!' stamp in order to put it up for auction and use the funds raised to get some money to buy a car.

I did not count on buying a new car, but for the first hour an offer for more than 150,000 hryvnia appeared, which is equivalent to almost 5,000 dollars. Then people approached me and offered to exchange a new L200 (Mitsubishi L200 - ed.) with a generator, with all the necessary parts, for this stamp. It was very symbolic, because a stamp is not worth that much. They give away a new SUV for the war at the frontline.

This shows that the Ukrainians are ready to mobilize all their resources and sources for the victory cause. Is it a feat? Certainly. But we live in a time when heroism is a common model of behaviour of Ukrainians.

— The Armed Forces of Ukraine have been on the defensive for more than 100 days. Has the Kremlin already broken its teeth in Ukraine?

"The Kremlin has already broken his hands and teeth, and received a mandibular dislocation also. But, unfortunately, this is a very resilient creature that continues to throw its citizens into the war slaughterhouse and does not spare other peoples. The Kremlin's story is rapidly changing. It started with “we will take Kyiv in three days”, then “we will take the Donetsk and Luhansk regions by May 9”, and now it's like “we must take Sievierodonetsk by June 12, the Day of Russia”. Their goals are getting smaller, their tasks are getting smaller too. They move to the situation “we will try to take at least something from what we can and from what we succeed” from ambitious statements that they will take everything “in seven seconds”. And they do it very badly.

In one day, the day before yesterday, Russia lost a Ka-52 helicopter, a new plane, a major general, and our soldiers sent him as "cargo 200". Everything in one day.

They have big ambitions, but this is when “wishlists” do not coincide with “can do”. Actually, Russia has completely failed in Ukraine. But this does not mean that it is ready to retreat now. The fact is that today Russia is Putin. Putin is ready to throw into the conflagration not only Russians, but also Belarusians, but also Ukrainians and anyone for the benefit of his ambitions, and his personal interests. He is ready to involve everyone, he is ready to burn the whole world in order to satisfy his ambitions. It's a monstrous motivation. Therefore, one of the main tasks today is to remove Putin from power at any cost. He may just die, or there will be a military coup or some other coup in Russia. This is one of the main tasks, because Putin is not yet ready to stop the military aggression.

— There are a lot of talks these days about fixing mistakes. The head of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, Danilov, has repeated several times that Ukraine did not believe until the very beginning of the attack that the Russians would go through Belarus. How did it happen?

— I don’t know what Danilov believed in, but all the experts warned about the reality of this scenario. Moreover, Danilov sometimes says that he knew that there would be a war, sometimes he didn’t know. Therefore, it would be nice for Danilov to figure out what he wants to say to the public and then say it. Military experts, in turn, said that Belarus would 100% become a base. But no one thought it was really true that Belarus would regularly launch rockets and send out fighter-bombers.

For most of us, this was a surprise, because we thought that Lukashenka, even being mean and rogue, would not come down to such a level. It turned out that he had come. He is ready for anything to maintain his power. Even make Belarus a base for regular strikes against Ukraine.

— Why has the thesis become popular among Ukrainian political scientists that Lukashenka is some kind of independent figure and “he is about to get out of the Kremlin’s control” and “almost opens a second front against the Russian Federation”?

— Lukashenka can only be an independent figure in the closet, doing his deed. In all other cases, he is absolutely controlled by only one goal - to stay in power, to keep himself on the throne in Belarus. That's why he will go along with Putin whenever he needs to. Otherwise, he will simply be changed if he finally refuses to fulfil any requirements. He can explain to Putin that he cannot fully enter the war, because this will actually break a kind of social contract that Belarus does not personally send the troops. But we know that some Belarusian soldiers were involved in the war. They were disguised as volunteers or someone else.

Lukashenko well understands that Belarusian war dogs will return home in coffins in the event of a full scale entry into the war. Belarusian society may not forgive him. Because Belarusians live in the paradigm of "anything rather than a war". For the Russians, the paradigm is completely different, it is “we can do it again”, they are thirsty for war in order to boost self-esteem. Belarusians have a different motivation. Therefore, Lukashenka will not enter the war, and he explains this to Putin. But Lukashenka provides Putin with everything else he needs. If there is a need for armors, he gives armors. If there is a need for hospitals, he is welcome. If he needs to enter from the territory of Belarus, then Lukashenko himself personally paves the way for the Russian Armed Forces to invade Ukraine.

Lukashenka is just a conformist and opportunist. Now it is most beneficial for him to be loyal to Russia because otherwise, his regime will fall. There are two options: Putin will put another person in his place, or Belarusians will choose another person. Therefore, he plays on such a very thin thread, passing between the raindrops. If someone thinks that he has his own opinion and free will, different from the main line of the Kremlin, then these people are mistaken.

— Warriors of the Kalinousky Regiment are now fighting in Ukraine. They call it their goal to return Belarus. Will there be volunteers in Ukraine who would be ready to help Belarusians regain the freedom of their country?

— We have not forgotten the help of the Belarusians, who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in order to resist the Russian occupation. Also, we have not forgotten where the missiles came from and where the Russian troops came from. We haven't forgotten who gave the command. There are plenty of people in Ukraine who want to crack down the mustached cockroach and tear down his dictatorial regime. Ukrainians will help their Belorussian brothers to become free.

— What is the most acceptable image of Belarus for you as a pro-Ukrainian politician?

— For Ukraine, strategically, of course, the pro-European image of Belarus is beneficial and the image of the partner. Moreover, rich, happy, free Belarusians are the key to reliable partnerships with Ukraine. Therefore, we want Belarusians to move towards a legal, democratic, European state, where the rights and freedoms of citizens will be respected at the highest level, and their well-being would grow. Accordingly, this is definitely not a partnership with the usurping regime of Lukashenka, but this is the development of the state and its integration into the European family.

— I believe that most Belarusians also dream about it. How could Ukraine help Belarus to pass this way?

— We will help with everything you need. As Poland is helping Ukraine now, I think that Ukraine is also ready to help Belarus, and Poland is ready to help Belarus, and all civilized countries of the world are ready to help Belarus in any possible way. The most important thing is the desire of the Belarusians because love cannot be forced. My dad used to say: "You can lead a horse to drink, but you can't make a horse drink." Here we have the same situation. We can help Belarusians, but without their desire and without their understanding of where they want to move, the movement itself is impossible.

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