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Belarusian Ihar "Yankee" Noman: Dealing With Lukashenka Troops Will Be Easier Than With Buryats

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Belarusian Ihar "Yankee" Noman: Dealing With Lukashenka Troops Will Be Easier Than With Buryats

There are units that are ready to surrender straightaway.

The commander of the international “Titan” battalion Ihar Noman, known as “Yankees”, told UNIAN what the Belarusians in the Ukrainian army think about Lukashenka's threats, whether or not a new wave of protests against the dictatorial regime in Belarus should be expected, and whether it is worth fearing the offensive of the Belarusian army into Ukraine.

“You participated in protests against the Lukashenka regime in 2020. How did the attitude of Belarusians to power change then?”

“Those elections showed to many how corrupt everything in Belarus was, in particular, the police. And the ruler behaves like a “weirdo” quite often. After Lukashenka neutralized his competitors — I'm talking about the arrests of Tsikhanouski and Babaryka — it's not surprising that people began to take to the streets. Then I saw a huge number of people who were against the regime. And it was not a dozen, not a hundred people. At that moment, the realization came that something would happen in the elections.

On election day, there were queues that I had never seen before. I myself had to wait for an hour and a half to vote.

On the night of the protest, my friends and I (because we always defended Belarusian values) stood in the forefront, shielding people from rubber bullets. I was even wounded by a stun grenade, but we stood until morning.

The big mistake was that people thought that they were being given the opportunity to go out to a peaceful protest. After all, while they were giving flowers to the riot policemen, the police had the opportunity to make out all the videos in order to detain people. For example, my best friend was taken to the police department and beaten there. But there were not only beatings, there were rapes of girls, there was a case when they jumped on an elderly person with an electrical shield …”

“When did you realize that you could no longer stay in the country?”

“It was when the riot police broke into my house with a search. Then I made the decision to leave.”

“How do Belarusians feel about what is happening in Ukraine today? What do they think about the Russian aggression, about the war?”

“I continue to communicate with many Belarusians. Those who could do something simply left Belarus. I understand that many who stayed are against all this, but, unfortunately, they cannot do anything. Therefore, missile launches and bombing of Ukraine from the territory of Belarus take place.”

“At a recent meeting between Putin and Lukashenka, the former spoke about the creation of a union state, and the latter even threatened Lithuania with war. Can you assume that Belarus will be drawn into a war with Ukraine, or even into a world war?”

“Perhaps this is Putin's game, so that with this allied state he could still fully draw Belarusians into the war. But why does Lukashenka need this? I don't think he has any way out.

You understand that Russia has been investing money in Belarus for a long time. And when you invest in a business, you demand a return, don't you?

But, are we really talking about the world war here? Lukashenka's threats are absolutely empty. I find it hard to believe that they will let a huge number of troops from Belarus into Ukraine. I say this as a person who lived in Belarus and understands the mentality.

Even if they enter, it will be easier to deal with them than with the Buryats. Everyone considered Russia the second army of the world. But what is it doing now?

Getting beaten from all sides!

I do not consider the Belarusian army some great force. Where did the troops of Belarus fight in general? What kind of warriors are they? First, they never fought. Secondly, the Belarusian army is aimed at suppressing the internal conflict — protecting Lukashenka himself. All these riot police and Alpha are formed and shaped only to protect the “king”.

“Do you think Lukashenka is afraid of being left without an army if his troops participate in a new Russian offensive against Ukraine from the north?”

“Of course. If you look at how Lukashenka is bustling at the moment, he is trying to move from chair to chair so as not to give all the troops that Putin demands from him. If he sends out an army, he will be killed. Accordingly, there will be no one to protect his life.

See how the Russians throw their soldiers around. If in Ukraine absolutely every person is valuable, then in Russia they are not. They think like this: “I'll send 500 people there. If they die, we'll bring new ones”. This is how it will be. They will tell them to go, they will go and that's it — they will not return.

I talked with the guys who stayed in Belarus. They've been ready for a month now. They stand at the border in full ammunition and wait. There are units that are ready to immediately surrender.”

“Do the military of the Republic of Belarus have such a mood to go over to the side of Ukraine?”

“I'm not saying that they want to go over to the side of Ukraine. They will not go to war for us. If they surrender, it means that they are afraid and want to save their lives.

The main disadvantage that exists at the moment is the number of missiles that fly from the territory of Belarus …”

“To what extent do Belarusian partisans, who started the so-called “rail war”, interfere with Russia? On June 29, it became known that the Investigatory Committee of the Republic of Belarus had completed its investigations into the three detainees’ cases. Is there a risk that their activities will cease?”

“I also heard that someone from the partisan movement had already been eliminated or shot. But I don't know whether it is true.

In general, I will say so: if there are such people and such formations that are engaged in this, these are the best people in the country. When they write to me: “Ihar, we can’t do anything…”, but then you hear a story that guys who have never done this went and blew it up, it causes great respect. This is what real Belarusians are. As my friend says, Belarusians of a healthy person.”

“In Ukraine, Belarusians have been fighting against Russia since 2014. You arrived after the Minsk 2020 protests and became the commander of your unit. In 2022, a volunteer battalion of Belarusians was formed — the regiment of Kastus Kalinouski. That is, the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine has already provoked the third wave of emigrants and volunteers. What difficulties does a Belarusian face when he comes to fight for Ukraine?”

“If we take people who want to fight for Ukraine, who are trying to get here in some way, there is such a flow. But it mostly goes not from Belarus itself, it is closed now. It is hard to leave Belarus. Those who want to leave the country say that there are records, visas, crazy queues ...

In Ukraine, the problem is when there are no documents at the beginning. You are driving in a car and you have to put a Ukrainian next to you so that they explain at the posts that you are a normal Belarusian. And so, there are no particular problems.

I have a document on additional protection, but I am the only one of us who has it. But someone’s residence permit has ended, someone’s documents have expired. This huge problem has been going on since 2014, when guys are looking for where to get a residence permit or where to go. That is why I created a petition to grant citizenship to those foreigners who stood up for Ukraine, under an accelerated procedure.”

“Granting Ukrainian citizenship is a complex, bureaucratic process. It is hard to imagine how, conditionally, thousands of Belarusians will be issued Ukrainian passports.”

“Let me share my vision. Let's say there is a voluntary battalion. If a person, conditionally, fights for Ukraine for three months, or up to six months, then they need to be granted citizenship.”

“What about the risks?”

“People told me, like, they could be saboteurs. Well, then let these people pass a polygraph in Ukraine when granting citizenship.

If thousands of people are given citizenship, people in other countries see this and understand that in such a situation they can go to fight here.

A volunteer thinks: “I will come, and I will not worry that I will not have a home”. In addition, Ukrainian citizenship is the only tool to return a foreign citizen from captivity. If a Belarusian is captured, they will be sent to Belarus, and not exchanged.

You cannot trust the enemy that he will follow human rights, laws or UN conventions, this is ridiculous. Therefore, under no other pretext, except for Ukrainian citizenship, captured [foreign] volunteers cannot be returned. And I think this issue should be resolved even without a petition.”

“How long do you think the war with Russia will last?”

“I think it's a war for a century. In general, I would never say like Arestovich that the war would last two or three weeks, or until September. Everything will be as it will be. And all the guys who are with us will go to the end. Until we take everything that is ours, no one will rest.”

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