Goodbye, ‘Taras’: Last farewell to Belarusian fighter for Ukraine in Brest (upd)
The funeral ceremony of Ales ‘Taras’ Charkashyn, a Belarusian citizen who died defending the independence of Ukraine in Donbas, has started at 12:00 by Minsk time.
More than 150 persons gathered near Ales’s house, our journalists report. A Baptist pastor said the words of farewell (Ales Charkashyn was a Baptist believer).
Ales’s parents, friends and civil activists (Pavel and Tatsyana Sevyarynets, Mikola Dzemidzenka, Zmitser Dashkevich, Andrey Kim, Hanna Shaputska) are present at the ceremony.
The coffin was placed in the yard. Ales’s body was covered with a white-red-white flag. The people were holding white-red-white flowers and flags. Many of those present knelt and chanted ‘Heroes do not die!’
13:00 The participants sang ‘God Almighty’, chanted ‘Long Live Belarus’ and ‘Live with God!’ A Ukrainian flag was placed on the coffin.
13:15 The column made their way to the cemetery.
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13:30 The coffin is being carried down Gvishiani Alley. The present were chanting: ‘Heroes Do Not Die!’ More and more people are coming to pay the last tribute to Ales. Security officials watching the funeral procession are seen as well.
13:40 The column reached the cemetery.
13:50 A Greek Catholic priest is saying a prayer for Ales’s soul.
14:00 Pavel Sevyarynets is speaking; he is reading an excerpt from the Bible that was written on Ales’s ID tag.
14:06 The people are listening to the song ‘Do not Give Up’ that Ales composed for Belsat TV documentary ‘Belarusian’.
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14:16 The coffin is being closed
14:25 The coffin has been put into a grave.
14.35 The funeral ceremony is over. The people are singing ‘God Almighty’ and the national anthem of Ukraine. There are candles, wreaths and flowers on Ales’s grave.
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Ales Charkashyn was a former deputy chairman of the Brest-based Belarusian Christian Democracy party. He was a medical worker and went to the ATO zone to help the wounded. In addition, the man actually became a military chaplain of the tactical group ‘Belarus’: Ales told the soldiers about God and answered their question on spiritual matters.
On Wednesday evening the family and friend met the coffin in Brest:
Ukrainian diplomats in Brest are not going to attend the ceremony as they are holding a gala reception today, they told belsat.eu.
On August 10, 33-year-old Ales Charkashyn, a citizen of Belarus, was seriously injured during a tank attack launched by pro-Russian militants near Volnovakha. The Brest-born fighter was wounded by 82-mm BM-37. He lost his arm; fragments of mines in his breast, kidney and head triggered blood-poisoning.
The fighter is the first Belarusian who has died for Ukraine in Donbas.
Ales Charkashyn wrote the song ‘Do Not Give Up!’ for Belsat TV documentary ‘Belarusian’ by Antos Tsyalezhnikau. The film director is going to release a song video in memory of Charkashyn.
Phot. by Ales Lyubyanchuk, Milana Kharytonava
