Belarusians who have been forced to leave Belarus and wish to return to the republic for further "fighting against the regime" are undergoing combat training in Poland, The Times reports.
The training is being organized by members of the BYPOL organization, established by Belarusian employees of the Security Service who retired after the 2020 protests. The training takes place in Poznan, and according to BYPOL's leader, Alexander Azarov, some groups have been training for several months.
"We tried to pursue a peaceful path. But the state did not achieve freedom, unable to withstand bloodshed," said a 60-year-old electrician, one of the Belarusians known as Grandpa, to the newspaper.
As The Times recalls, BYPOL claimed responsibility for sabotaging Belarusian railways in 2022, as well as the attack on the Russian A-50 aircraft at the Machulishchy airbase (Minsk region) in February 2023.
Mass protests in Belarus began after the presidential elections on August 9, 2020. According to official data, Lukashenko received over 80% of the votes, while his main opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, received about 10%. Tikhanovskaya's headquarters did not recognize the election results and demanded a peaceful transfer of power. Ultimately, the protesters were dispersed, and hundreds were arrested. Tikhanovskaya and other opposition figures left the country.
Comments (0)