"It Is People Like This Who Show That Belarus Is Not Russia"
- 21.01.2026, 22:05
Ukrainians and Belarusians have common values and future.
Famous Ukrainian journalist Evgeniy Klimakin told why it is important for his compatriots to read the new book by American historian Yuri Felshtinsky "Natalia Radina's Belarus. Journalist vs. Dictator." At book presentation, which took place on January 16 at the Andrzej Wajda Center in Warsaw, the journalist expressed the opinion that Ukrainians still poorly understand the history of Belarus:
- One man in Minsk usurped power, sold and gave away the Belarusian language, Belarusian culture, Belarusian territory, where occupants can enter and do whatever they want - so in the understanding of many Ukrainians, because of this man who sits in Minsk, whom you don't even want to call by name, Belarus is perceived as an extension of Russia.
And it is this book, such people as Natalia Radina, such people as fighters of the Kalinovsky Polk, such people who in 2022 undermined railroad tracks and overturned cars with Russian equipment, - show that Belarus is not Russia.
It is people like Natalia Radina who share common values with us, Ukrainians. They see their future not in Russia, not in some incomprehensible country, which will be neutral between Russia and the West, not to interfere anywhere. No! Only such people realize that our common future, a calm future, is the EU, it is NATO.
So I would very much like as many people from Ukraine as possible to read this book and learn that the Belarusian protest did not start in 2020, that it was much earlier. That many people paid for it with their lives.
I welcome the appearance of this book. And you, Natalia Radina, I respect and love you very much. It feels like it is Natalia's birthday today, but today we will not sing songs, but just say to you: many years.
We wish that we live as soon as possible to the time when we can change this regime in Belarus. That all Belarusians who dream of their home, of seeing their friends, parents, of going to the graves of their relatives - that this will finally become possible.