Alexey has to learn to stand on two feet again.
Originally from Belarus, he's been part of the Ukrainian army off and on for about eight years.
Now, the war has taken its toll. Two weeks after the fighting started, he was on a reconnaissance
patrol when a Russian shell struck nearby. Now he's learning to walk on an artificial leg.
“Two, or three weeks ago, I still needed two crutches – not like this one, but real
crutches that you wedge under your arms. Now, I manage without. I use this one like a cane.”
Now Alexey trains recruits. So many Belarusians have joined Ukraine’s armed
forces since the war started that they’ve formed an entire regiment of their own.
Alexey came to Ukraine in 2014 after Kyiv’s Euromaidan protests.
“Ukraine is one of the last free countries remaining of the former Soviet republics.
If it had lost its freedom – if the Maidan protests had been put down,
there would’ve been no future left for the region – neither for Ukraine, nor for Belarus.”
Now the Belarusian regiment numbers several hundred troops. Many of them fled to Ukraine in
20-20, after President Alexander Lukashenko crushed mass protests all across Belarus.
Roscar, as his fellow troopers call him, is part of the regiment.
He also took part in the protests in Belarus.
“We were hoping we could topple Lukashenko peacefully.
But unfortunately, our hopes did not come true, and the regime is still in power.
My task now, is to do everything I can to bring down this regime.”
To the soldiers of the Belarusian regiment, the Ukrainians’ fight is also very much theirs.
They can’t go back to their country now anyway.
“I could expect a life sentence at the very least, and at the worst,
execution. For my participation in the protests,
they could charge me with extremism, and now, on top of that, with being a mercenary in the war.”
The fighters have many different political opinions. What unites them is their opposition
to the regime in Belarus. In 20-14, Alexey first joined the right-wing nationalist Azov Battalion.
Since February, he’s been with the Belarusian regiment. He describes himself as a nationalist.
“Belarusian nationalists want to live in a free country. The form it takes – whether
democracy or something else – is not so important. The main thing is that people
can choose and develop as they wish. At the moment, there’s no development in Belarus.”
Now, Alexey’s morning starts with physiotherapy.
His body has to learn to keep its balance without help from the left leg.
He’s down to receive a new, electronically controlled prosthesis eventually.
If Alexey had his way, he’d like to go back to the front.
“I won’t be able to return to active duty like I used to. But there are many different jobs at
the front – different kinds of weapons. But I won’t be able to fight in my former unit.
That’s physically no longer possible.” For the time being, it’s training,
training and more training. He’s still has many steps to take before he can return to the front.