War damage to a residential building in Kramatorsk in June 2023
July 31, 2023: I am still driving a truck. I go lots of places. Tomorrow I’m taking some ammunition to Kramatorsk. You have heard about our losses. The main thing now is to help their children. One of them was living next to me, just on the other side of the wall. [Editor’s note: A few days earlier, the deaths of three Belarusian volunteers had been reported in Ukraine.] Yesterday [Belarusian opera singer] Margarita Lyauchuk performed. A talented girl, she dispelled our sadness and grief.
August 27, 2023: It’s a mess here, and there are not enough people to even think of entering Belarus and liberating it. That’s too bad. But my conscience is clear. I am helping as much as I can. A lot of people get disappointed and go back. I miss my own life and my girlfriend. But that’s natural. There is a war here. Lots of people have lost their homes and land. Not everyone can handle it here. Especially if they are on the front lines.
‘Getting Used To War’
October 1, 2023: I haven’t written for a long time. I am in Kupyansk, getting used to war. It is horrible what is happening here. [Editor’s note: In the fall of 2023, the area around the northeastern Kharkiv region city of Kupyansk saw fierce fighting, with Russian forces trying to recapture an area they occupied for several months in 2022.]
November 1, 2023: This is a real war, national pain and grief. A lot of people have left. The city where I am is half-destroyed. As are the surrounding villages. We have never seen such grief in our country. Someone has died in almost every family. When you drive past a cemetery, you see Ukrainian flags everywhere. It’s not the same as in Kyiv. When you see it all close up, it is terrifying.
February 8, 2024: I am in Kharkiv now. I went to Kyiv to get a tooth fixed and submit some documents. They have promised to give citizenship to Belarusian volunteers. They are giving us leave. Fifteen days. I’d like to visit you in the summer. Recently there was a [Russian] breakthrough, but we just barely stopped it. We are on duty every night. I am doing medical evacuations. I go to the very front to collect the wounded. Am slowly getting used to the explosions of war. But it is still scary. I’m sorry for not writing more.
Ukrainian military graves at a cemetery outside of Kyiv in March
April 12, 2023: Now I’m on rotation behind the lines. I had a little to drink. It is demoralizing when someone is killed. Maybe I’ll stay for another year. But if they keep attacking like this, will my nerves hold out? To be honest, I’m tired. I’ve been here almost a year. The worst thing is when we are on the move. When we are holding our positions, it is quieter, even if shells pass overhead every 10 minutes. We drive mostly at night. I have a night-vision device. We are running on adrenaline. When I’m on rotation and have a little to drink, I realize how burned out my nerves are. Many people here are suffering mentally. Some drink. Some do drugs. Some gamble. That is the reality here. All the frontline cities have been destroyed by artillery. There are dogs that have eaten human flesh. That’s how we live. The casualties undermine our morale. You have no idea how much grief the “Russian world” has brought to this place. Is there an end to it?
June 7, 2024: We are in the Kharkiv area. There is fighting all around. I’m fine, I think. When anyone dies, a lot of people leave. It is very demoralizing. There are so few of us, but somehow we are holding on. I’ll be here for a while. I’m already used to it. But the war must end eventually. No one knows what will happen tomorrow. Nobody here is safe from anything.
On June 9, 2024, this Belarusian volunteer was killed when the car in which he was traveling with another volunteer struck a land mine. Their bodies were recovered. Their unit is holding the remains of its fighters in the hope they can someday be interred in Belarus.
Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Belarus Service. With additional reporting by Margret Johnston in Washington
Source link : https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-ukraine-war-fighter-mercenaries-lukashenka/33034091.html
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Publish date : 2024-07-13 07:00:00
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