Vasil Parfiankou: My call sign is Siabra

The former Belarusian political prisoner, who now fights in Donbas, has received the National Award.

Vasil Parfiankou won Viktar Ivashkevich National Human Rights Award for personal courage. The award was founded by charter97.org 17 years ago.

The life of Vasil Parfiankou is a demonstration of how the Belarusian authorities deal with dissidents. Parfiankou has been jailed three times for the last four years for his activism.

Vasil Parfiankou now fights in Donbas in a volunteer battalion. Charter97.org chief editor Natallia Radzina met with Parfiankou in Kyiv to give him the award.

– Vasil, what is more difficult: being in a cell-type unit in prison or being in the war?

– Of course, you cannot compare these things. However hard it may be in prison, nobody shoots there. People die at war every day. We see blood every day. Our battalion don't have many casualties. A human life is priceless.

– More and more Belarusians go to fight in eastern Ukraine. Why do you think it happens?

– We have always been brothers. People of Ukraine and Belarus have always been brothers. We fought together in the Battle of Blue Waters and the Battle of Grunwald. We are fighting together now, too.

It's true that more and more Belarusians come here. We have a position called “house” in Peski. The position is held by the Right Sector, and 12 out of 18 soldiers are Belarusians. Ukrainians joke that “green men” from Belarus annexed Donbas.

– You saw Belarusians on the other side. Do your fellow nationals fight against you?

– Yes, I saw some. One man was detained when I was on duty, but I didn't have time to talk to him. I was on duty on February 12 when I my fellows told me on a walkie-talkie: “Congratulations, Siabra (it's my call sign), we caught your countryman.”

I went to the headquarters as soon as I was free, but he was already taken by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine. Guys said he is from Maladzechna. They saw his passport.

– Are you going to return to Belarus?

– I miss Belarus so much and want to return. I miss Minsk, my parents, sisters and friends. But as long as we have these authorities, I may face 15 years in prison for mercenarism. So, I don't have opportunities to come back in the near future.

– You and many Belarusians fight for Ukraine, where Mikhail Zhyzneuski was earlier killed during the Maidan protests. The Ukrainian authorities meet with Lukashenka and ignore the Belarusian opposition and families of political prisoners. Does it hurt you?

– It's hard to speak about it. The Ukrainian authorities still haven't paid tribute to the memory of Mikhail Zhyzneuski in a proper way. We can say that the Belarusians fighting in eastern Ukraine don't have rights. Poroshenko has released an order, under which all volunteer battalions must obey the Security Service, the Interior Ministry or the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, citizens of other countries fighting for Ukraine do not have the right to fight in the regular army of Ukraine.

It's not only the Belarusians who fight for Ukraine. There are many volunteers from other countries. The Ukrainian authorities don't want to give them any official status. I'd like to say: don't hinder us to fight for Ukraine.