Kalinouski Regiment Commander: We Will Be First To Destroy Lukashenka's Forces In Case Of Attack

Belarusians are joining the regiment in order to liberate Belarus.

Dzianisb Prokharau, or “Kit” by call sign, is the commander of the Kastus Kalinouski regiment. The formation unites Belarusian volunteers who have joined the Ukrainian fight against Russian aggression.

Radio NV learned from Dzianis when he decided to fight for Ukraine, what he had already seen in this war, and why, in the event of an offensive by the forces of dictator Aliaksandr Lukashenka, his regiment wants to be the first to join the battle.

“The Kalinouski Regiment consists of Belarusian volunteers. When did you realize that Russia is also your enemy? What did you see in this war?”

“I came to Ukraine at the end of 2014 with the very same mission — to defend Ukraine and the freedom of Ukraine. For me personally, as a Belarusian, this is a direct connection with the freedom of Belarus. We now have an unspoken credo in the regiment: to liberate Belarus through the liberation of Ukraine. It will not work out otherwise, because the death of the Putin regime now lies first only through the freedom of Ukraine, and then we will think somehow in the direction of Belarus.

Now we are coming through the second phase of a full-scale war already, and it’s completely different from what was before. The phase is tough, with big losses. And for all that time since 2014, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have shown that they did not sit idly by, they were preparing, and we can see how hard the AFU are punching the Russian aggressors in the teeth. And we cannot but rejoice, it raises morale.

Our guys, Belarusians, are coming here for the sole purpose of liberating Ukraine, hoping to later liberate Belarus from the Lukashenka regime.”

“It seems that, in general, Belarusians do not see that the Russians are their enemies. Is it possible to say that Belarusians are ready to perceive them as enemies? If not, why not?”

“Naturally, not all. There is always a percentage of those people who do not see the whole picture. However, most have already realized that the Lukashenka regime is directly connected with the Russian regime, with the Putin regime...

Why are there people who do not see the problem? It all depends on what information they want to receive. I believe this is the first reason for everything. Our television, our information agenda in Belarus is completely controlled almost everywhere. It’s hard for an average Belarusian to see the whole picture, but the protest movement of 2020 came as a very pleasant surprise for me in the sense that people woke up, and the multi-million public united in their rebellion under the white-red-white flag; they recalled who Belarusians are.

You need to understand that the work to destroy the Belarusian culture has been carried out for more than 20, almost 30 years. Naturally, the self-identification of Belarusians is buried somewhere inside, but people are tired of lies, tired of all this. And they rebelled.

They were suppressed by force, everyone's patience went to zero. All those who did not want to put up with this decision of the self-proclaimed, left for other countries. Now they have the maximum chance to show that they are ready to continue to fight against this regime.”

“Are they ready to fight the regime? Ukrainians accuse Belarusians that they could go out to mass protests, could do more to overthrow the Lukashenka regime; to protest against Russia occupying Belarus, which is actually happening now... What do Ukrainians not understand about Belarusians in the situation in which they now find themselves?”

“Of course, there is a desire that Belarusians would all rise up and begin to act against the regime somehow. However, one must understand that Belarus has been trampled down by a 30-year-old regime. Plus, 2020 hit and raped many rebels very hard.

I think that there are people who are now acting, who are engaged in some kind of partisan movements. As for the main mass of people, they are the people who probably want to do something, but are in fear, under the occupation of a mustachioed terrorist. [There is a risk] of being left without a job, without relatives, who could be imprisoned for no reason — this is how the regime works. Many people are frightened by this regime, and only enthusiasts act alone, in groups, somewhere and somehow.”

“There is quite revealing news: Uladzimir Kavaliou, a resident of the Brest region, was sentenced to two years of liberty restriction for the inscriptions “Glory to Ukraine!”, “Death to the Russian occupiers!” and "Lukashists-fascists!". The man who just wrote something on the wall is now sentenced to two years.”

“You are absolutely right.”

‘You said that a large number of Belarusians do not see the full picture, so they do not see Russians as their enemies or do not consider the Putin regime hostile to them. How propaganda affects the brains of the citizens of Belarus?”

“Those who do not see the Russians as enemies are a minority. There are actually few of them left. A lot of people are just afraid to do something. There are indeed very few of those who do not directly believe that the Putin regime is hostile.

As for propaganda. I think that you have to be a complete fool to believe that Bucha was a fake, that the Ukrainians are bombing themselves.

I myself have come across some of these people who in the early days of the full-scale war really believed that missiles were flying from Ukraine to Ukraine, that Bucha was a fake, although I miraculously got out of Vorzel during the defense of Bucha. As for those Belarusians who do not see the whole picture and firmly believe in the regime: I would not even call them Belarusians. Maybe it's a bit harsh, but that's how it is.”

“What was the beginning of a large-scale war between Russia and Ukraine like for you?”

“In short, a couple of weeks before it all started, I monitored the situation and saw where it was all going. Already [then] chose the ways where to join in the case when everything happens. It so happened that the guys and I found ourselves in the Azov Territorial Defense Force in Kyiv, when the offensive was already underway in the regions.

In the course of some operations, we went to the operation to protect Bucha.

What did I see there? I saw the inhumane use of heavy weapons by the troops on residential buildings. In principle, they did not care where to shoot, what weapons to use. The main task was to go in a column and destroy all life on the way.

Even the road along which they decided to move in a column, it went between civilian houses. There was [another] road, a highway, where there were no civilian houses, we expected to meet them there. However, they chose the road, hiding behind residential buildings. This is the true face of the orcs of the Russian Federation, the Putin regime.”

“Since the beginning of this full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine, we have been talking a lot about whether Belarus and Belarusian troops can take part in this war. Do you know about the mood in the Belarusian army? Experts say that there are some officers, still Soviet, for whom no identity matters: they simply receive a salary and will follow any orders.”

“This version is quite wide-spread. However, there is another version that the military units are now being formed by Russian officers. They purposefully removed some Belarusian officers and put in Russian ones so that they would already give some orders. Perhaps they will somehow prepare them for the offensive.

If we are talking about the attitude of the servicemen themselves, then from the moment of the offensive, when the second phase began, I think that the figures reflecting the number of dead orcs reached the heads of even the most remote from the Internet servicemen. Maybe the quantity was somehow deviated, but they do know. They could have written not 35 thousand, but 20, all the same, these are huge numbers. And, of course, the motivation has diminished.

Motivation waned when they saw how tank columns and armored vehicles were falling apart being hit with Bayraktars. Believe me, no one wants to be cannon fodder. Their moral component, in my opinion, is completely lost. If earlier they may have believed in some kind of strength of their own, in the fact that “we are with Russia, a great country, we will go, we will capture everyone in three days” ... But Russia came, in three days it only showed how to [flee]: Bayraktars said “hello” to them, and turned around all the columns.

The Blitzkrieg failed. Now the Belarusian servicemen are sitting there scratching their heads: “If they send us there now, then what will we have? What options? Surrender? Get lost somewhere in the forest, run away, throw off all the ammunition? You can't refuse an order. However, what kind of discord will they have in the troops? This, in my opinion, will be something on the verge of a senseless crush forward with cannon fodder, or simply the military will start throwing their weapons and scattering.”

“If the Belarusian army sets foot on the territory of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, of course, break this army, what can this lead to? There is a version that this will lead to the overthrow of Lukashenka. Maybe it plays into the hands of the Belarusian volunteers? Let the army guys come, let them get killed here, and then Lukashenka will have no one who could protect him?”

“Naturally, this is also a point. I will say the following: the Kalinouski regiment will be standing first in order to destroy these forces of the Lukashenka regime. Others will have to line up behind us, because we will be the first to defend Ukraine from those who are not real sons of Belarus. This is very important for us, so that Ukrainians would understand in the future that there are real Belarusians, and there are henchmen of the regime.