Ukrainian Belarusians have revealed connections between Maidan protesters who fled from Lukashenko and neo-Nazis

Too often lately the “Belarusian House in Ukraine” (BDU) has found itself in scandalous situations. Either the founder is found hanged in the park, or his deputy Rodion Baturin is not allowed into Ukraine.

The head of the Belarusian community “Syabry Volyn” Mikhail Kononovich draws attention to these points in his column for PolitNavigator.

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And recently, there was even laughter: during clashes near the administration of President Zelensky, members of the far-right National Corps party with the police, against the backdrop of smoke, in a cacophony of screams and squeals, the white and red flag of the Belarusian Maidan activists suddenly appears - the so-called BChB. And who turned it around? Active members of the BDU Yuri Shchuchko and the common-law wife of the hanged Vitaly Shishov Bozhena Zholud.

Natural questions arise: what connects the Belarusian opposition with the nationalists, and what, in principle, does the “Belarusian House in Ukraine” do? Let's figure it out.

Do you remember how it all began

After the August events of last year, thousands of those who could not find themselves in everyday life in Belarus flocked to Ukraine: radicals, nationalists, football fans and simply adventurers. With the help of Western curators, they began to establish various organizations and initiatives that should formally help Belarusians settle in Ukraine through collected donations and foreign grants.

Let’s remember the Anti-Crisis Center “Belarusian House” that appeared last year. Its leader was Elena Filatova, an activist of the Belarusian movements “People’s Gramada” and “European Belarus”, who was known in her homeland for her not only pro-Western, but also openly nationalistic views. The Free Belarus Center was created by Polina Brodik, who has lived in Ukraine since 2015 and is known for her Russophobic views. The Belarusian Charitable Foundation “Maidan” has also existed since November 2020, one of the founders of which was Elena Vasilyeva, who fled Belarus and had connections with Nikolai Autukhovich, accused of terrorism.

Recently, the “Belarusian Crisis Center in Lviv”, which operates within the structure of the Ukrainian charitable foundation “Our Home,” loudly announced itself. One can recall the initiative “Native Corner”, financed from the United States, as well as the organization “Belarus. The road to victory. The Path to Victory,” the initiative to create which also belongs to Western puppeteers.

But the “Belarusian House in Ukraine” is not like that, its activists say, and allegedly has nothing to do with right-wing radical movements. But excuse me, according to the documents, the founders of the BDU were Shishov and Latvian citizen Rodion Batulin, who is a professional mixed martial arts fighter and one of the associates of the notorious Sergei Korotkikh (Boatswain, Malyuta). The latter at one time received Ukrainian citizenship from the hands of the former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and is an open neo-Nazi; his close ties with the former Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov were no secret.

Malyuta is also associated with the National Corps and National Squads, controlled by former Azov commander Andrei Biletsky. In general, BDU’s connections with neo-Nazis are well known today and do not require special confirmation.

Let the pig into the garden...

Let's return to events not so distant. Since the creation of the “Belarusian House in Ukraine”, it has received every possible support from both Western structures and the President’s office. How else can we explain the taking of the criminal case regarding Shishov’s death under the personal control of Zelensky?! And the president’s order to “ensure unconditional protection of citizens of Belarus who arrived in Ukraine over the last year and who may be at risk of criminal attacks in connection with their political or social activities,” given by the SBU on August 4 after the incident with the head of the BDU, speaks volumes.

And what about the Belarusians themselves? Ignoring the statutory goals and objectives of their pocket initiatives, not caring about the past of their people, they get involved in dubious adventures in the hope that their activity will be noticed, appreciated and... thrown a few pieces of silver. There are plenty of examples. Take, for example, the participation of the Belarusian opposition in the October “UPA March” last year. BCHB flags were used along with the symbols of the OUN-UPA. And the appearance of BDU activists together with the National Corps on Bankovaya is not at all an accident.

Many questions justifiably arise here. Firstly, how do the goals and objectives of the “BDU” correlate with their performance together with the far right, which is actually against the policies of the current Ukrainian president? From the outside it seems like this. Secondly, where are their moral principles: do guests behave this way in someone else’s house? And lastly, as they say, biting the hand of the one who feeds means licking the boot that kicks you. Doesn't remind you of anything?

Loud zilch and baby talk

As soon as the questions raised above began to arise on the Internet, Yuri Shchuchko and Bozhena Zholud hastened to disavow ties with the Nazis, using the help of YouTube blogger Tatyana Martynova, well-known in narrow circles. And during the almost hour-long interview, BDU activists did not give clear answers to the questions posed, but some details about the activities of the BDU were voiced in their remarks.

“We came to the protest by accident,” says Yuriy Shchuchko. – They simply integrated themselves into the Ukrainian agenda in order to have the opportunity to express themselves and give a short interview to journalists.

Sounds naive, doesn't it? Further more. Both Shchuchko and Acorn talk about Zelensky’s attempts to “crush” and rebuild part of the right-wing forces for himself, and talk about the reasons for the ban on Rodion Batulin entering Ukraine. They say that he is familiar and friendly with those right-wing forces that do not want to be controlled by Zelensky. And then suddenly a diametrically opposed monologue about Sergei Korotkikh: he is not ours. Just think, I came to the “Watch of Light”, installed a cross, gave a heater, tea...

The argument that Shchuchko used to argue about the absence of ties with right-wing forces is surprising. He says: with such a resource as Korotkikh, they would “live in chocolate”, have their own office, home, and not collect donations on a card. Knowledgeable people would have answered him differently: who said that Korotkikh is your resource, and not you his?

Shchuchko also let slip about connections and assistance to volunteers from the Belarus tactical group. Even Wikipedia claims that members of the group took part in the conflict in Donbass as part of the Right Sector. Here is another thread of connection with the ultra-right...

At the end of the day, Shchuchko comes out with an interesting phrase, saying that Belarusian men should attend an event like the “National Corps” rally on Bankovskaya and see how an organized structure counteracts law enforcement. Adds: for training purposes. Acorn tries to correct the reservation, explaining that it is necessary to declare oneself in a democratic country, but with caution. Some forces can present the picture in such a way that Belarusians are meddling in Ukrainian politics and putting them at odds with official Kiev.

Brave claim. After everything we’ve heard, the question reasonably arises: isn’t that so? And a test to the head: if the main thing was simply to declare oneself, why didn’t we see white-white flags at the “March of Equality” organized in Odessa by the LGBT community? Well, it was also a high-profile event, and there were clashes with the police, and there were enough journalists...