Vladimir Putin’s strong alliance with the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has allowed Russia to use its neighbour’s territory to launch attacks on Ukrainian targets. However, a volunteer battalion of Belarussians has defied President Putin‘s alliance with their country by formally joining Ukraine’s armed forces. Earlier today, the Belarus ‘Kalinovsky’ battalion joined in the effort to drive occupying Russian forces from the Lukyanovka, a neighbourhood north of Kyiv.
In a devastating betrayal for President Putin, the ‘Kalinovsky’ battalion formally joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Friday.
Marking Belarus’ Freedom Day, a video was posted showing Belarusian troops taking an oath and being formally admitted to the Ukrainian military.
Following today’s victory in Lukyanovka, troops from the battalion showed off Russian hardware that they had either destroy or seized.
Speaking to camera, one of the Belarusian commanders said: “Putin, all your Russian peace will die with you.
“There are blown up vehicles but the main thing is that there are many trophies.
“There is a tank standing over there.”
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In an ultimate betrayal, the Belarus ‘Kalinovsky’ battalion formally joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
He then showed off the ‘collected trophies’ including two infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and a Russian tank.
Ukraine officials confirmed that 40 Russian troops were killed in the fighting, while nine iFVs and two tanks were destroyed.
Users on Reddit responded to the video of Belarussian forces fighting for Ukraine by predicting a revolt inside Belarus next.
RedditTipiak posted: “Obviously when these guys are done in Ukraine, they will pay a surprise visit to Luka.”
The Kalinovsky battalion was named after Kastuś Kalinovsky, a 19th-century Belarusian leader of the 1863 January Uprising against then-Russian Empire.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya endorsed the battalion, boasting that “more and more people from Belarus join to help Ukrainians defend their country”.
However, President Lukashenko labelled them “crazed citizens”.
This comes as Russia continues to struggle to make significant advances into Ukraine since the invasion was launched last month.
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