Calling themselves the Pohonia Battalion, a group of fewer than 30 Belarusian exiles living mostly in Poland and other countries across Europe, they hope to join hundreds of their compatriots already engaged in the struggle for Ukraine.
To free their country from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grip, the aspiring volunteer fighters say, he must first be defeated in Ukraine.
The group, ranging in age from 19 to 60, carry replica Kalashnikovs. Hardly anyone has combat experience.
Among them are a professional poker player, a rock musician and an electrician.
They are headed by dissident and restaurateur Vadim Prokopiev. “We see a window of opportunity,” Prokopiev told CNN on Monday.
“I called on Belarusians to join the fight for Ukraine because that is step one before step two, which is the fight for Belarus.”
Most members, including Prokopiev, were forced to flee their country in 2020 when Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko – a Kremlin-backed Putin ally – cracked down on a mass protest movement after winning a widely disputed election. marred by fraud.
“If Ukraine loses this war, Belarus has no chance of getting out,” Prokopiev said. “If Ukraine wins this war, it means that Putin’s hands are too busy and he is too weak and will not support Lukashenko with resources.”
Pohonia would like to join the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine, a military unit made up of foreign volunteers, but at the time of writing, they have yet to be inducted.
Hundreds of other Belarusian volunteers are already on the ground, fighting alongside Ukrainian troops. Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya said four had been killed since the war began.
“The people of Belarus understand that the fate of Belarus depends on the fate of Ukraine, and now it is very important to free Ukraine so that it can be more easily rid of Lukashenko’s regime on our soil,” Tikhanovskaya told CNN on Wednesday.
Moscow uses Minsk as a satellite base for its unprovoked war against Ukraine. At the start of the conflict, Putin ordered troops across the borders of Russia and Belarus into Ukraine.
Belarus has been used as a springboard for many Russian air operations in Ukraine, according to intelligence gathered by NATO surveillance aircraft.
And the Ukrainian military says it shot down several rockets fired at its territory from Belarus.
After Russia failed to gain the desired ground around Kyiv, the forces withdrew to Belarus to regroup and redeploy.
And NATO fears the Kremlin may even ask Lukashenko to use his army to bolster Moscow’s forces on the battlefield. It’s a prospect that would see Belarusian exiles and Minsk army on opposite sides of the front line.
The Biden government has slammed Minsk with sanctions against Belarusian defense firms and the country’s defense minister, and suspended normal trade relations with the country.
But Lukashenko has shown no remorse for his role as mediator. “We did not start this war, our conscience is clear. I’m glad it started,” he told reporters in March.
And earlier this week, Putin thanked Lukashenko for his unwavering support, saying, “We never had any doubts that if someone offered us their shoulder, it would be Belarus.”
The Belarus Resistance, which has been broken and frail since the 2020 crackdown, said volunteer fighters are part of broader efforts to destabilize the Lukashenko regime.
“All these Belarusian fighters are real heroes,” Tikhanovskaya said of the volunteers. “Now they are defending Ukraine and maybe one day they could also defend Belarus,” she said, citing the opposition’s desire to see Lukashenko’s regime overthrown.
In Belarus, a railway line used by Russian forces to bring supplies to Ukraine was partially cut by activists in April when Belarusian police opened fire and arrested three men who described it as an act of terrorism, according to the state-run Belarusian police Belta news agency.
And cyber-activists recently hacked Belarusian state institutions involved in the war against Ukraine and continue to fight Russian disinformation online, Tikhanovskaya said.
But these small measures still pose no real threat to the 28-year rule of Lukashenko, often dubbed Europe’s last dictator.
“A long journey starts somewhere, so we build a small force to build a bigger force,” Prokopiev said.
The exiles now hope that Lukashenko’s trust in Moscow will link his future to Putin and the outcome of what has so far been a faltering military invasion of Ukraine.