Russian forces have been utilizing territory in Belarus to launch attacks on Ukraine amid Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of the country — but not without a fight from the people of Belarus, according to Franak Viačorka, who is a senior adviser to Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the latter of whom ran against current Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in 2020 elections but lost amid the rigged process. As explained by The Guardian, “Forced to seek refuge in Lithuania after standing against Lukashenko in presidential elections in August 2020, which were rigged in his favour, Tsikhanouskaya, a former teacher, now calls herself the legitimate leader of Belarus. European governments have refused to recognise Lukashenko as president since 2020.” According to Viačorka, there have been numerous affronts inside Belarus against Russian fighting capacity.
⚡️ Russia fires at protesters in occupied Kherson, injuries reported.
According to Kherson media outlet Most, Russian troops opened fire and threw stun grenades at unarmed protestors in the center of occupied Kherson. Those injured were taken to the hospital, the media reports.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 21, 2022
As he explained, “Belarus is a land of partisans. Our heroes stop Russian trains, damage Russian equipment, hand out leaflets to prevent Belarus troops from entering Ukraine. Ukraine will prevail, Belarus will be liberated as well.” Lukashenko has been one of the few world leaders on Putin’s side amid the violence in Ukraine. Viačorka shared a recap of some specific incidents, including a disabling of an automation and telemechanics device, the destruction of the “relay protection of the centralization and blocking systems” in particular areas, and more.
Belarus is a land of partisans. Our heroes stop Russian trains, damage Russian equipment, hand out leaflets to prevent Belarus troops from entering Ukraine. 🇺🇦Ukraine will prevail, ️⬜️🟥️⬜️ Belarus will be liberated as well pic.twitter.com/w0Y2semvEj
— Franak Viačorka (@franakviacorka) March 20, 2022
According to journalist Hanna Liubakova (who’s from Belarus), the ‘head of the Ukrainian Railways Alexander Kamyshin confirmed that there is no railway connection between #Ukraine and #Belarus “thanks to Belarusian railway workers.” They’ve indeed launched what they called “a railway war” with many acts of sabotage to stop Russian equipment.’ And Pavel Latushka, another Belarusian opposition leader, said: “Right now there is an active railway resistance in #Belarus. From Feb 26 to Mar 17, alarm, centralization & blocking systems were disabled, many protective [relays] were destroyed & transformers dismantled by Belarusian activists. #Belarusians support #Ukrainians in all possible ways.” There have also been protests inside Belarus against the violence in Ukraine, with many detentions recorded there, like in Russia. Similarly, Ukrainian civilians have flooded the streets in occupied territories inside Ukraine, where the devastation that Russian forces have been inflicting is immense — demonstrations along these lines were recently recorded in Ukrainian locales including Kherson, Berdyansk, and Nova Kahovka. In Kherson, Russian forces fired on demonstrators.
The head of the Ukrainian Railways Alexander Kamyshin confirmed that there is no railway connection between #Ukraine and #Belarus "thanks to Belarusian railway workers". They've indeed launched what they called "a railway war" with many acts of sabotage to stop Russian equipment pic.twitter.com/Tji0gkkdNP
— Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) March 21, 2022
Right now there is an active railway resistance in #Belarus
From Feb 26 to Mar 17, alarm, centralization & blocking systems were disabled, many protective relay were destroyed & transformers dismantled by Belarusian activists.#Belarusians support #Ukrainians in all possible ways pic.twitter.com/O00oW1xkqq— Pavel Latushka (@PavelLatushka) March 20, 2022
