Aidar battalion veteran comments on Belarusian guerrillas’ activities

Evgeny Dikiy, a Ukrainian scholar, blogger and veteran of the Aidar battalion, believes that the activities of Belarusian guerrillas can be called heroic given the conditions of brutal political repression in Belarus.

Evgeny Dikiy and Radio Svaboda discussed the role of Belarusian guerrillas’ activities during the war in Ukraine. Evgeny draws attention to the positive results of the guerrillas’ efforts, in particular, the attack on the Machulishchy military airfield.

“Russia has lost one of the nerve centers of its aggression. The warplane in Machulishchy is like a flying analog of the Moskva cruiser [Russia’s flagship missile cruiser, the Moskva, sank after being “seriously damaged”, allegedly by the Ukrainian Navy]. Everything is perfect here: real combat significance, economic loss, and the resounding political slap in the face.”

Evgeny Dikiy points out the importance of guerrilla activity and the contribution of Belarusian guerrillas in support of the Ukrainian side. Ukrainian intelligence services do not operate in Belarus, so Belarusian guerrillas help greatly in passing on important information.

“All the physical actions against Russians in Belarus are carried out by Belarusian guerrillas, which makes their actions all the more valuable. They do things we can’t afford to do. This has a direct military effect. Look at how many military transports have been held up! In war times, time is life. Timely or untimely munitions delivery determines the winner and outcome of a battle. This is a very significant contribution to our victory.”

Evgeny believes the Belarusian resistance movement positively affects the perception of Belarusians in Ukraine.

“It is a completely different attitude toward Belarusians when we clearly separate the Belarusian regime and the Belarusian people, who demonstrated strongly and unequivocally in 2020 that this regime is not theirs and that these authorities are illegitimate and fraudulently elected. Owing to the heroic deeds of Belarusian guerrillas, Belarusians continue to show that the regime and the people are two completely different entities.”