Belarusian who fought for Ukraine extradited from Vietnam to Belarus
Vasil Verameichyk, a former soldier of the Kalinouski Regiment fighting on Ukraine's side, was extradited from Vietnam to Belarus last week, the independent Belarusian outlet Zerkalo reported on Nov. 20.
Verameichyk now faces imprisonment, as the Kalinouski Regiment was recently declared a terrorist organization by the Supreme Court of Belarus.
The Belarusian regime under dictator Alexander Lukashenko has backed Russia in its aggression against Ukraine and cracked down on Belarusian citizens actively supporting Kyiv.
Verameichyk supported the 2020 protests against the electoral fraud in Belarus and then fled to Ukraine. There he joined Kastus Kalinouski's regiment at the beginning of the full-scale war and fought on the Ukrainian side, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
Verameichyk later moved from Ukraine to Lithuania, where he was allegedly denied a residence permit because of his past service in the Belarusian army.
According to Belarusian media, he was arrested in Vietnam on Nov. 13 and extradited to Belarus the following day.
The Kalinouski Regiment is a military formation within Ukrainian forces, created in March 2022 to protect Ukraine from Russian invasion. It is composed of Belarusian volunteers.
In September, another fighter from the regiment who had been held in Russian captivity for two years was charged with mercenarism by Russian proxy authorities in the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast.
Following the Supreme Court's decision, Alexander Karpovich, head of the Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office, said that members of the regiment had allegedly recruited, armed, and trained "terrorists" and had been involved in financing "terrorist activities."
"On the basis of the provided evidence, the involvement of extremist-minded citizens, who are part of this formation, in the organization, planning, preparation, and commission of acts of terrorism on the territory of the Republic of Belarus was established," he added.
The Belarusian regime brutally suppresses dissent at home, using surveillance, violence, and trumped-up charges with lengthy sentences to intimidate any opposition.
Maria Yeryoma
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