At least 742 citizens of Belarus are fighting on side of Russia against Ukraine - media
At the beginning of 2025, the Russian occupation army had at least 742 mercenaries with passports of the Republic of Belarus who fought against the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This was reported in the project "I Want to Live" (a state project of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on voluntary surrender), Censor.NET reports.
It is noted that the published list of names is incomplete, as some citizens of Belarus also have a Russian passport and are not counted as "legionnaires".
"The real number of Belarusians fighting against Ukraine may well be a record," the "I Want to Live" organization noted.
"While for mercenaries from other countries in the Russian army, money is the key motivating factor, for Belarusian citizens it is ideology. Belarusian society and the Russian Federation exist in a single information space, so Belarusians "willingly believe in propagandists' fairy tales about 'Nazis in Ukraine' and fight for the 'common Soviet past. Even the prospect of up to 15 years in prison for mercenarism under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus does not stop them," the statement reads.
"I Want to Live" also called it obvious that the participation of Belarusian citizens in the war against Ukraine on the side of the Russian Federation is taking place with the tacit consent of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. At the same time, he is confused by the fact that Russia uses Belarusians as "cannon fodder."
According to "I Want to Live," at least 96 Belarusian citizens who fought on the side of the Russian Federation have already been killed at the front in Ukraine.
