Russian media concerned about Belarusians' patriotic feelings, support of Ukraine
The charity marathon “Help the Belarusian soldier’ is to start at the office of the opposition party Belarusian People’s Front on January 24, popular Russian news website lenta.ru reports.
“A few months ago I initiated raising funds for the Belarusians who put their lives on the line in Ukraine . All that ‘the Belarusians at war’ have is what volunteers give them. <…> Now, having relaxed after the Christmas holidays, we can think all together about how we could help those who celebrated Christmas in trenches being shelled by Russians,” the news site quotes Zmitser Dashkevich, the leader of the youth organizationg Young Front.
At the turn of the year, Young Front founded the military association Vayar (‘Warrior’), lenta.ru reports ands stresses that it is ‘not only actively recruiting supporters, but also carrying out patriotic trainings in the open air’.
“By the way, similar events in neighboring Ukraine gave the start to the extremist organization ‘Rights Sector’ which is outlawed in Russia,” lenta.ru points out.
In the article its author discloses his opinion on how the war in Donbas affected the domestic situation in Belarus.
“Until recently, the Belarusian nationalists were considered marginal forces. Before the Ukrainian crisis national rhetoric was typical of some political parties (‘Belarusian People’s Front’) and unregistered opposition organizations who make no secret of their hostile attitude towards Russia. But the war changed the situation. Under the slogan “There is no free Belarus without a free Ukraine!” [Belarusian] volunteers who are supported by the republic’s intelligentsia of the republic, stampeded into Ukraine,” the article says.
According to ;enta.ru, Belarusian ‘fighters for national revival’ believe that the historic name ‘Litva’ should be returned to the country, as ‘the Belarusian nation is a descendant of the history of the Grand principality of Lithuania and Litvins’.
