Belarusian Paralyses Deliveries From North Korea, China To Russia?

• 12.12.2023, 8:31

They started talking about the successors of Ignatiy Hrynevitsky in Russia.

With the beginning of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, Belarusians actively joined the anti-war movement, including joining armed formations within the AFU, taking part in the "rail war" or damaging important Russian planes, following the example of great-grandfathers. However, these are not the only fronts of Belarusian resistance to the war. Sometimes they take place in Russia itself, writes the website of the «Белсат» TV channel.

The start of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine has given a new impetus to the Belarusian protest movement as a consequence of the complicity of Aliaksandr Lukashenka's regime in the war. In total, according to the Interior Ministry, in less than six weeks since the war began, more than 80 sabotage attacks aimed at stopping the movement of military echelons took place on the Belarusian railway. The Cyber Partisans attacked the electronic resources of the Belarusian railway for the same purpose. According to The Washington Post, the "rail war" slowed down the movement of Russian troops, bought time for the AFU and contributed to the repulsion of the offensive against Kyiv.

And in February 2023, Belarusian partisans damaged a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection and control military aircraft at the Machulishchy airfield near Minsk. Due to the damage, the craft was forced to leave Belarus for repairs, after which it never returned to our country.

Also Belarusians started to join military formations within the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Today, Belarusians are fighting in Ukraine as part of the Kastus Kalinouski regiment, the Belarusian Volunteer Corps, the 1st Separate Airborne Assault Company, the International Legion and a number of others. Since 2014, more than 40 Belarusians have already died for the independence of Ukraine.

Also, Belarusians are actively involved in opposing the Russian regime and the war in Ukraine on the territory of Russia itself. The successors of the Belarusian populist Ignatiy Hrynevitsky, who assassinated Russian Emperor Alexander II in 1881, are damaging transport infrastructure, equipment, and appear to be directly involved in military raids into Russian territory.

Blowing Up Two Trains on the BAM

In the evening of November 29, a car of a goods train consisting of 41 tank cars with fuel, three with aviation fuel and six cars with ferrous metal caught fire while travelling through a tunnel on the Baikal-Amur Mainline at the Itykit-Okusikan crossing in Buryatia. Later on, a second incident involving a goods train travelling on the bypass track occurred on the same section. As a result, four fuel tank cars were burnt and two others were damaged. The explosions of trains in the Severomuisky tunnel of BAM were qualified as a terrorist act.

On December 7, the Federal Security Service of Russia reported about the detention of a Belarusian citizen suspected of the terrorist attack in Omsk, "who confessed to working under the control of the Ukrainian security services". The court arrested him until January 30, 2024.

The detainee is 52-year-old Siarhei Yeremeyeu, who previously worked at Naftan and participated in the strike in 2020. The man lost his job because of politics. Russian security services claim that Yeremeyev brought explosives from Belarus to the Far East and planted them on the wagons of two trains carrying oil products.

As a result of the sabotage, there were detentions in Belarus as well. On December 9, KGB officers detained about 20 people in Polatsk and Navapolatsk.

In a commentary to "Belsat," Major-General of the SSU reserve Viktor Yahun noted that the Belarusian could cut off part of Russia from deliveries from North Korea and China with his sabotage.

"From North Korea, obviously, weapons are coming there, shells, ammunition. And this is just another jab for China that Russia can't ensure the transit of its cargoes through its territory. For China, everything that has to do with trade is critical. And when it once again faces the situation that its partners cannot ensure the elementary passage of trains with cargo through its territory, misunderstandings begin. Any misunderstandings between Russia and China are a plus for us," he said.

According to him, the Belarusian could also cause significant damage to the infrastructure, as the cables in the tunnel, where the trains were burning, could have been damaged, which generally stops the movement on the railway. And for Ukraine, "every day is critical, so if it delays there for a week, two, a month, any day is a plus," Yahun emphasised.

Blowing Up the Russian Serviceman's Car

On September 23, a Chevrolet Aveo car belonging to a Russian serviceman exploded near the house where he lived in Dzhankoy in Crimea annexed by Russia. As a result, no one was injured, but a window on the ground floor of the house was blown out. Initially, the version that the gas-cylinder equipment exploded was considered, but it was not confirmed. Experts determined that an improvised explosive device with a capacity of 500 grams of TNT had been planted in the car.

According to investigators, 61-year-old Belarusian Viachaslau Piskunou, who lived in Sevastopol, might have been involved in the explosion. During the search in the warehouse of Carter-Yug LLC, law enforcers found Piskunou's stash. It contained electric detonators, almost 2kg of hexogen, a submachine gun and 138 rounds of ammunition. According to the IC version, on September 20, the Belarusian assembled a homemade bomb from the available components and placed it on the serviceman's car. A case against Piskunou was initiated for attempted murder, possession of explosives and intentional damage to property.

(Un)conscious Deeds

On the night of June 19, unknown persons set fire to at least three relay cabinets that ensure the operation of semaphores - devices for regulating railway traffic - near the Varshavskoye Highway in Moscow. Two citizens of Kazakhstan, aged 25 and 27, one of whom was born in Belarus, were detained for arson. The guys said that they committed the sabotage in order to earn money. For their work, they received about $350 to cryptocurrency wallets. A case under Article 267 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was opened against the detainees.

On May 23, another Belarusian-Homel resident Dzmitry Halauliou was detained in Moscow. His wife Yuliya was detained together with him. They were accused of launching a white-blue-white flag into the sky with balloons. The WBW flag is a symbol of anti-war resistance in Russia. It is also used by members of the Russian Freedom Legion, which attacked Belgorod Region on May 22. This organisation is recognized as a terrorist in Russia.

At first, an administrative case was brought against the Belarusian and a report on petty hooliganism was drawn up. He was arrested for 15 days, and then - for another 15 for the demonstration of "Nazi symbols". At that, Halauliou, like those detained for burning relay cabinets, claimed that he knew nothing about the symbols and thought he was participating in the celebration. He had allegedly been promised to be paid 500 euros for doing so.

Hacking into the Servers of Russian Companies

Belarusian "Cyberpartisans" reported that on May 19, they successfully broke into the network of the Russian Wagon-Service company, specialising in the maintenance of railway trains in Russia. The hackers said they siphoned off all document flow, emails, and data from servers, and then encrypted the originals and backups. Workstations were also encrypted, they got control of access to network resources.

Before that, in the autumn of 2022, the Cyber Partisans claimed to have hacked the website of the Main Radio Frequency Centre, which performs the supervisory and regulatory functions of Roskomnadzor, Russia's internet censor, which, among other things, blocks anti-war resources.

Participating in the March on Belgorod Region?

In 2023, there were several sabotage raids from Ukraine into Russia's border regions, during which even a number of settlements were taken under control for a while. Officially, they involved Russian volunteers in the Ukrainian army - the Russian Freedom Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps. But not only them. Thus, the Polish Volunteer Corps also confirmed its participation in the raid.

There are reports that there were also Belarusians there. In particular, on one of the shots from Belgorod region, one can recognise the famous warrior from the Belarusian Volunteer Corps Ihar Yankou with the call sign "Yanki". He initially refused to comment on his participation, and later reported that he had a "complete ban on commenting on this topic" from the military leadership. But he confirmed that he "had been inside the enemy's territory".

Blowing Up the Railway in Bryansk Region?

There is information that Belarusian partisans may have been involved in damaging the railway in other regions of Russia. In particular, we are talking about the detonation of explosives in front of a Belarusian train carrying oil products and construction materials to Russia on May 1. The incident occurred at the 136th km of the railway Bryansk - Unecha in Bryansk region of the Russian Federation, bordering with Belarus. As a result, according to various reports, seven or eight wagons and one or two locomotives derailed. The train traffic between Homel and Russian cities was suspended. It was restored 18 hours later, about 100 metres of railway bed had to be replaced.

However, later the publication with information about Belarusian partisans' participation in the sabotage was corrected, and the information about their involvement was removed. Therefore, it is impossible to confirm their participation. In any case, as Russian anarchists claimed back in 2022, it was Belarusian partisans who inspired them to set fire to relay cabinets and military recruitment centres in the Russian Federation.

Drones and Explosives?

There have been some other cases over the last year that may be related to the anti-war activism of Belarusians. However, the lack of sufficient information on this matter does not give grounds to attribute them to resistance. For example, on July 27, Belarusian citizen Uladzimir Kastrukou was detained in Moscow with two drones - Mavic mini 3 Pro and Mavic air 29. The Belarusian was denounced by passers-by. He told the police that he bought the drones at the market for the war in Ukraine. It was not specified on whose side.

In September, it became known that the FSB detained a citizen of Belarus, Anatol Hryharchuk, in Moscow region for an attempt to smuggle explosives and firearms. The Belarusian was sent to pre-trial detention until October 30. He faces up to 10 years in prison. It was not reported what the explosives and weapons were intended for.