Belarusian partisans fight on the side of Ukraine in the war - and carry out attacks in Russia

Created: 04/21/2022, 20:42

By: Aleksandra Fedorska

Pawel Latuschko (2nd from right), member of the Presidium of the Tichanovskaya Coordination Council, and the Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya (r) meet with volunteers who want to travel to Ukraine in the Belarusian House in Warsaw © Rafal Guz/dpa

Since 2020 there have been partisan cells in Belarus carrying out attacks on Belarusian and Russian infrastructure.

In mid-March, a sabotage operation took place on Russian territory for the first time.

Minsk – The Belarusian protest movement, which deliberately demonstrated peacefully in 2020, was brutally crushed at the time.

In addition to so-called “cyber partisans”, the movement also had small combat-ready cells that attacked the infrastructure of the Lukashenko regime.

One of the most well-known actions is the arson attack on an OMON base in Belarus in September 2021, which was carried out using drones.

TV channel Belsat reports that these groups carried out attacks in Russia for the first time in mid-March 2022.

Signaling, centralization and blocking devices as well as several train traffic control cabinets were destroyed.

The sabotage took place about 80-120 kilometers from the Belarusian border on Russian territory.

As a result, among other things, a section of the Brjansk-Orzeł railway line between the villages of Biełyje Bieriegi and Babinka was closed.

"The occupier and his obedient slaves will feel no peace.

Neither in our own house nor in our own house,” the resistance group shared via Telegram.

Ukraine war: who are the Belarusian partisans?

fight against Russia

In May 2021, a manifesto of the Belarusian resistance ("Zubrauiv") was published.

Authors included the Cyberpartisans and two lesser-known groups: "the storks fly" and National Self-Defense Teams (DNS).

Their telegram channels are followed by 9300 and 4100 people respectively.

The members of these groups remain anonymous but have two official representatives.

Activist Dmitri Szjahielski lives in the US and Paweł Kułażanka, who previously belonged to a pro-regime OMON unit, is now fighting on the side of Ukraine against Russia.

The individual cells have names such as "Black Stork".

It is unclear how many people are assigned to each cell.

They communicate with the public through their telegram channel “the storks are flying”.

However, there are indications that there are other groups parallel to the storks that call themselves “the grandchildren of the partisans”.

The evaluation of the Telegram channel suggests that "the grandchildren of the partisans" financially supported the storks in the campaign in September 2021.

In addition, in the summer of 2021, members of the "Evil Otters" group disrupted the operation of the Russian Navy's communications station in Vileyka.

This incident was even discussed during the official talks between Vladimir Putin and Aleksander Lukashenko.

The entries in the channel "The storks are flying" show that these groups are not only positioned against Lukashenko and his apparatus, but are also extremely critical of Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Putin.

The partial integration of Belarus into the structures of the Russian Federation is called the "annexation".

"Just as a raped woman has the right to self-defense, Belarus, whose rights are being violated by the regime, has a moral right to fight against it."

so argues Dmitri Szjahielski.

Ukraine-Russia News: The Belarusian Resistance and the War in Ukraine

Since the start of the Ukraine war on February 24, Belarus has played a crucial strategic role in the conflict.

The Russian army advanced on Kyiv from this state territory.

Russia is also firing rockets at Ukraine from the area.

Equally important is Belarus as a hub of Russian wartime logistics.

Belarus has gained particular importance in recent weeks, when Russian troops had to be transferred from the north to the south for the Donbas offensive.

The Belarusian dictator is keeping his own Belarusian army out of the conflict - while the population is largely in solidarity with the Ukrainians.

The Belarusian railway workers, who carried out around 80 sabotage actions on the rails from February 24 to April 15 alone, showed particular courage.

This significantly slowed down Russian wartime logistics.

Experts estimate that 500 Belarusians are now fighting in four brigades in Ukraine.

"It will be this army that will liberate Belarus later," Paweł Kułażanka, who is fighting on Ukraine's side against Russia and for a free world, told the independent newspaper

.

Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, based in Vilnius, met with Belarusian volunteers who are going to war on the side of Ukraine.

At the March 24 meeting, she said: “Our country is now perceived as an aggressor.

That hurts us a lot."

Tsikhanouskaya took the opportunity and also addressed the military personnel in Belarus, who could potentially receive the marching orders at any moment.

"Even if you receive such an order, after crossing the border, surrender to the Ukrainian army and fight on the side of the Ukrainians," appealed Tsikhanouskaya.