This is the story of Belarusians who, after 80 years, resumed partisan movement on the railway to help Ukraine defend itself from the Russian attack.

The Belarusian authorities retaliated by shooting them in the legs, draconian prison terms and threatening to shoot them if they even thought about repeating it.

The information about the rail partisans is so different that one may wonder if they actually existed.

There were 11 of them, more than 40 or 5 thousand?

Are 11 railway stations affected or 80?

Did people actually do something or just "intend"?

Which of them got shot in the leg?

We tried to figure it out to tell this story.

"5 thousand people contacted"

"Rail partisans" did not arise by themselves, this movement was organized last year by a number of teams led by

ByPol

, an initiative of former Belarusian security forces who left the system, says the head of the organization,

Alexander Azarov

.

Cyber ​​guerrillas, railway workers, the initiative "Storks are flying"

and some others

also participated in the movement .

Alexander Azarov

On February 24,

2022,

ByPol ​​called on Belarusians who want to help Ukraine to contact them.

The main task was to slow down traffic on the railway so that Russia could not transport equipment, ammunition and military personnel through Belarus to Kiev, which the Russians were then trying to capture.

In the first days after February 24, according to the instructions , 5,000 Belarusians

applied

, he claims in a conversation with Svaboda Azarov.

Even a year before the start of the war, the "Storks fly" initiative published instructions on how to damage railway tracks with ordinary wire and set fire to a relay box without revealing yourself.

The first "rail partisans" appeared in Belarus not last February, but after the last presidential elections.

At the end of 2020, it became known about dozens of arrests of people who allegedly damaged railway tracks, wrapped rails with wire.

The Belarusian authorities presented these actions as the struggle of the protesters against the Lukashenka regime.

Then they were taken according to the "railway" article 309 of the Criminal Code ("Deliberately rendering a vehicle or means of communication unusable").

Extras received 2-4 years in the colony.

There were no deadlines of 20 years, and there was no talk of "terrorism" then.

True, the Bobrui "rail partisans", who were detained until February 24, 2022, and tried after that date, were given 14-16 years.

The price of one relay box is tens of thousands of dollars

The first diversion after the start of the war took place already

on February 26

.

Unknown persons damaged the equipment near Asipovichi.

On February 27

, railway workers reported that the Minsk and Orshan nodes were paralyzed.

The actions continued for another month, until the end of March.

According to the information of the railway workers, at least 11 of them took place throughout Belarus: in the Asipovitskyi, Barysauskyi, Svetlagorskyi, Mogilevskyi, Ivatseviskyi, Glybotskyi, Orshanskyi, Babruiskyi districts (all regions except Horadenskyi).

But the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus claimed that there were more than 80 acts of sabotage.

Guerrillas set fire to relay cabinets, damaged the alarm system and other equipment.

As the security forces claimed, someone set fire to a log on the rails, another made an incendiary mixture and threw it on the relay box, someone wrapped the rails with wire.

As a result, the semaphore, which was supposed to light red and prohibit passage, could turn out to be turned off, and by shorting the rails with a wire, the free path showed as if it was occupied.

Burnt relay cabinet under Stouptsi

The price of one relay box, according to the information of railway workers, amounts to tens of thousands of dollars.

It is still unknown what total material damage the partisans caused to the railroad.

In parallel with the activities of activists "on the ground",

cyber guerrillas

joined .

On February 27

and

March 2

, they launched successful attacks on the Belarusian railway system.

Sites related to it stopped working for a while.

It was impossible to buy tickets, logistics companies lost access to their online offices, it was impossible to issue documents that this train arrived and that one left.

Road management has changed from automated to manual.

Queues at the ticket office at the Minsk railway station after the action of cyber-partisans.

March 3, 2022

However, the partisans did not create emergency situations, there was no threat to passengers, emphasized the community of railway workers.

Russian trains stopped for a week

After three weeks of the "rail war", the efforts of the Belarusian partisans were publicly celebrated in Ukraine.

On March 17, the former adviser to the Ukrainian president,

Oleksiy Arastovich

, called for a "total rail war" against Russian trains, including those on the Gomel-Kiev route

.

Aleksei Arastovich

On March 19,

the head of the Ukrainian Railways,

Alexander Kamyshin

, announced that communication between Belarus and Ukraine had stopped.

He thanked the Belarusian railwaymen for this.

"Rail partisans stopped Russian trains for a whole week.

For the first week, they stood one hundred percent near Smolensk and did not know whether to go further, because they thought that there might be more actions to destroy these trains, that they would be thrown down the slope," Alexander Azarov from ByPol ​​comments on the contribution of the partisans to the fight against the Russian attack.

Burnt relay cabinet near Asipovichi

A week later, the trains started moving, but very slowly, the former Belarusian security officer is convinced.

"They were driving without an automatic alarm.

There was no general management.

They had to move independently, as in pre-revolutionary times, when the driver himself looked where to go.

It had no indicators of where the branch was open, where it was closed, whether it was possible to turn or not.

All railway traffic in Belarus was disrupted, the entire schedule, the entire scheme was violated," Azarov explains.

In April, the partisan actions stopped.

First, Russian trains left Belarus, secondly, security forces took the railway under increased security.

According to the American edition of The Washington Post, it was the Belarusian "rail partisans" who thwarted the assault on Kiev.

The publication describes them as a secret network that included railway workers, hackers and defectors from security agencies to damage railways and damage Russian logistics.

The representative of ByPol, Aleksandar Azarov, does not attempt to estimate how much the Belarusian partisans prevented the Russians from capturing Kyiv, but he emphasizes that their activities definitely slowed down the transfer of Russian resources to Ukraine in the first month.

Transportation of Russian military equipment

The railroad workers themselves made a special contribution to rail traffic.

They reported in their Telegram channel where and which Russian equipment they spotted on the road.

Some train drivers openly refused to drive Russian trains that were traveling towards Kiev.

In the end, the Russians began to encrypt and transport equipment and ammunition not in military echelons, but in ordinary wagons, on which it was not indicated that they were carrying dangerous cargo, the community of railway workers reported on March 6, 2022.

One relay cabinet was guarded by 2-3 security officers

In response to the "rail war" from mid-March , special forces of internal troops and police were on duty

at crossings and stations, in particular in

Gomel and Brest oblasts .

Babruyskyi and Osipovitskyi districts were put under round-the-clock monitoring.

Special attention was paid to Staupetsk and Dzerzhinsk districts.

Railway officials informed that the patrol will be in civilian clothes, with weapons, walkie-talkies and GPS-trackers.

Patrolmen lived in tents near the railway.

In some areas, relay cabinets were guarded by 2-3 people.

They were also on duty in the forests and on rural roads near the railway.

From the air, the territory was patrolled by drones and photographed by thermal imagers.

Camera traps were installed here and there.

Freight cars on the Belarusian railway.

Illustrative photo

Azarov said that flame throwers were set up near the roads.

During the last known partisan action, the activists were shot, but they managed to escape.

It happened in the Gomel region

on March 30,

2022.

"An agent was introduced to the partisans in Svetlogorsk"

The KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus have started a "sweep" to find all the partisans.

They threw a lot of their resources at it.

According to information from railway workers, law enforcement officers conducted full monitoring of network traffic in the most "dangerous" areas, such as analysis of search queries.

Images from video surveillance cameras were processed to find at least some clue.

The arrests were planned from the beginning with demonstrative brutality, even if there was no resistance.

"They massively worked the cities, settlements closest to the places of actions.

I know that half of GUBAZIK came to Stoupka, they were looking for participants.

They still found someone," comments Aleksandar Azarov.

Russian military equipment is transported on the Belarusian railway

No one was caught red-handed.

People were taken away a few days after the actions, the representative of ByPol ​​notes.

How many were real partisans out of those 5,000 volunteers, the interlocutor does not want to name, so as not to "harm people at large."

However, according to his words, only a small part of all activists were taken away.

Human rights defenders know about 11 detained partisans, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs claimed that more than 40 people were detained.

"Partisans were detained in Svetlogorsk, because an agent was introduced to them, who surrendered all four of them.

Partisans were detained in Bobruisk, but we still don't know how they were calculated.

The partisans took very good precautions," says Azarov.

The "Flying storks" initiative taught that you should go to the rally without a phone, in second-hand clothes and shoes, and immediately after the rally throw away everything as far away from home as possible.

To prevent the dogs from following the trail, they advised treating the soles with pepper or tobacco, pouring machine oil or antifreeze on their tracks.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs

Genadz Kazakevich

confirmed that during the arrest the police shot dead the suspected saboteurs (that is, they could have been killed during the arrest. — RS).

However, it is unknown whether any of the partisans were killed.

Vitaly Melnyk, one of the partisans, who was shot in the legs during the arrest

More than 30 railway workers were detained

A mass "cleaning" took place at the end of March 2022 on the "Belarusian Railway" as well.

First of all, attention was paid to those who had access to documents of limited circulation and who were connected with the organization of train traffic.

There were mass arrests of train drivers who refused to drive Russian trains.

It is known that on March 28, a driver was detained in Gomli on his way to the depot for a flight.

"If they found something in the phone for which they could be prosecuted, they were prosecuted for it," said the representative of ByPol.

Railway transfer to Belarus.

Illustrative photo

In total, more than 30 BCH employees were detained, and the security forces forced them to record a video.

At least some ended up in pretrial detention in criminal cases.

They were suspected of "espionage", "treason", "an act of terrorism".

The first well-known detained railway worker was

Siarhei Kanavalov

.

He is 50 years old.

He worked in the Vitebsk branch of the railway and had access to the signaling and communication system.

Konovalov was detained on March 6, 2022.

Sergey Kanavalov

"Among the convicted "rail partisans" are those who were not going to do anything.

A resident of Vitebsk said at a meeting of railway workers that it would be good to do something with Russian trains.

It's like, "it's right that they're holding actions," Azarov said.

The railway workers claimed that the reason was the conflict between Kanovalov and his superior over ideology.

As a result, he informed the KGB that his subordinate was preparing sabotage, although there were no grounds for this.

The trial was held behind closed doors.

Konovalov was included in the "terrorist list" and was given 15 years in prison.

Valentin Samasyuk

Another figure was an employee of the Baranovitskaya Railway and the administrator of the thematic railway resources "UKontakte" and Instagram.

This is 30-year-old

Valyantsin Samasyuk

.

He was accused of sending several photos of railway equipment with comments ("facilitating extremist activities") to an "extremist" Telegram channel in March.

It is known that Samasyuk has already been sentenced to a prison term, but the details are unknown.

According to this article, he faces up to 6-7 years in prison.

Alexander Luchinovich

44-year-old reserve guide from Goml,

Aleksandar Luchynovich,

received 2 years in prison for sending a photo of Russian military equipment to the "Belarusian Gayun" channel.

There was a case when a railway employee was accused of damaging railway equipment in Vorsha.

His name and further fate are unknown.

How the authorities took revenge on the "rail partisans"

  • The KGB recognized the chat room of Belarusian railway workers as an "extremist formation" as early as March 2022.

    Many people detained for sabotaging the railway were included in the "terrorist list".

    Most of their trials were held behind closed doors.

Svetlagor railway partisans in a cage in the courtroom

  • Two men were shot in the legs during the arrest:

    Vitaliy Melnyk

    from the Minsk district and

    Dmytry Klimau

    from Babruysk.

    Some of the security forces detained on the video looked beaten, injuries were visible on their faces, and some had an eye that could not open due to swelling.

  • In January of this year, the Belarusian authorities actually took the 15-year-old brother of the administrator of the railwaymen's telegram channel hostage.

    He was detained, then transferred to a psychiatric hospital in Navinki, now the guy is in a pre-trial detention center on Vladarsky in a criminal case.

    Relatives claimed the harsh treatment and pressure on the child behind bars.

  • After the beginning of the rail war, the Belarusian authorities issued a law that allows shooting not only for a "terrorist attack", but also for the intention to commit it.

List of rail partisans

Human rights activists are aware of

11 detained

Reik partisans after the start of the war in Ukraine.

They are

from 28 to 52 years old

, all men, all residents of regions - not Minsk or regional centers.

Many have small children, even babies.

The men were taken away almost immediately after the alleged sabotage -

from February 28 to March 4, 2022

.

Most of them were accused of an "act of terrorism", included in the "terrorist list" and tried behind closed doors.

Some of them were imprisoned only for "intention to sabotage".

They were sentenced

to 11 to 23 years in prison

.

All of them are 176.5 years old.

Only one of them - Yevhen Minkevich from Bobruisk - was given a minimum term of 1.5 years in prison for "not reporting the crime".

He was released from the courtroom under amnesty.

Mazyr

Siarhei Plyashkun

1. Siarhei Plyashkun

is a 35-year-old resident of Mazyr.

Worked as a sales agent.

He is married, has two children, the youngest was not yet a year old when his father was taken away.

It happened

on February 28,

2022.

They accused him of allegedly planning to destroy military equipment of the Russian Federation, which was passing through the Mazyr district, together with Selvich.

According to the investigation, the men produced bottles with an incendiary mixture and discussed how to damage the rails.

Security forces filmed Mazyrans with a hidden camera in the garage.

The conversation was regarded as "preparation for terrorism".

Pleshkun was sentenced to

16 years in prison

.

Yury Selvich

2. Yuri Selvich

is a 45-year-old resident of Mazyr.

He worked "for himself", engaged in repairs.

Married, I have two sons (they served in the army when their father was taken away) and an adopted daughter.

He was detained on

February 28,

2022.

They accused him of allegedly planning to destroy military equipment of the Russian Federation, which was passing through the Mazyr district, together with Pleshkun.

According to the investigation, the men produced bottles with an incendiary mixture and discussed how to damage the rails.

It was considered as "preparation for terrorism".

Security forces filmed Mazyrans with a hidden camera in the garage.

He was sentenced to

14 years in prison

.

Babruysk

Vladimir Avramtsev

3. Vladimer Avramtsev

is a 28-year-old resident of Bobruisk.

An athlete, engaged in wrestling, worked in a fitness center.

He was detained

on March 30

, 2022.

He was accused of being involved in the destruction of two relay cabinets near Asipovichi.

During the detention, the security forces shot and killed the Bobrui partisans.

Avramtsev was accused of allegedly burning two relay cabinets near Asipovichi.

He was sentenced to 22 years in prison

in a closed regime

.

Zmytser Klimov

4. Dmytry Klimau

is a 29-year-old resident of Bobruisk.

He worked as a driver, a taxi driver.

Married, has a small daughter.

He was detained

on March 30

, 2022.

He was accused of being involved in the destruction of two relay cabinets near Asipovichi.

During the detention, the security forces shot and killed the Bobrui partisans.

Klimov was shot in the legs, he was in the hospital.

In the video recorded by the Slavs, Klimov's leg was tied with a tourniquet.

He was accused of allegedly burning two relay cabinets under the Asipovichs.

He was sentenced to 22 years in prison

in a closed regime

.

Evgeny Minkevich

5. Yevhen Minkevich

is a 29-year-old resident of Bobruisk.

He worked as a taxi driver and an ambulance attendant.

According to his education, he is a physical education teacher.

Married, has a small son.

Minkevich was detained

on March 30,

2022.

During the detention, the security forces shot and killed the Bobrui partisans.

Minkevich was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for "not reporting a crime".

His associates were tried according to five articles.

After the verdict, he was released under amnesty in the courtroom.

Minsk district

Vitaly Melnyk

6. Vitaly Melnyk

is a 41-year-old resident of Khadakova village, Minsk district.

There is a small child.

He was detained

on March 30

, 2022.

During the arrest, the knees were shot.

The man moved around in the prison on crutches.

Melnyk was blamed for the fact that he allegedly damaged the relay cabinet in the Minsk region.

According to SC, he detained 22 cargo and 17 passenger trains.

His family believes that Vital has nothing to do with the crime.

He was sentenced to 13 years in prison

in a closed regime

.

Columns

Sergey Hlebka

7. Siarhei Hlebka

is a 44-year-old resident of Stouptsev.

Married, has three minor children.

He was detained

on March 2

, 2022 for allegedly setting fire to a log on the tracks to stop the movement of Russian trains.

The video of the security forces shows that Sergei was beaten.

Together with him, his wife Kateryna was also detained.

Hlebka's case was considered in open mode.

He was sentenced to

11 years in prison

.

Asipovichi

Aleksey Shishkavets

8. Alyaksei Shishkavets

is a 43-year-old resident of Osipovichi.

Entrepreneur.

He was detained

on March 2

, 2022.

He was tried only for the fact that he allegedly registered in the ByPol ​​chatbot and received instructions on how to make a "Molotov cocktail".

The man was not accused of damaging the relay cabinet or other equipment.

He was given

11 years in prison

.

Svetlagorsk

Denis Dikun

9. Denis Dikun

is a 30-year-old resident of Svetlagorsk.

According to education, a turner worked in a shop run by his sister.

He was detained

on March 4,

2022.

In the security video, he looked beaten.

His girlfriend was also detained, but then released.

In a closed trial, he was sentenced to

23 years in prison

for allegedly setting fire to a relay box on the Zherdz-Ostankavichy railway line in the Svetlagor district of the Gomel region on February 28, 2022.

He was also fined 5,550 rubles.

Zmytser Ravich

10. Dmytry Ravich

is a 34-year-old resident of Svetlagorsk.

He worked as an electrician at Belarusneft.

Married, has two small daughters.

He was detained

on March 4,

2022.

His wife was also detained, but later released.

In a closed trial, he was sentenced to

22 years in prison

for allegedly setting fire to a relay box on the Zherdz-Ostankavichy railway line in the Svetlagor district of the Gomel region on February 28, 2022.

He was also fined 5,550 rubles.

Oleg Malchanov

11. Oleg Malchanov

is a 52-year-old resident of Svetlagorsk.

Былы вайсковец, займаўся перавозкамі, бацька дзяўчыны Дзяніса Дзікуна. Яго затрымалі 4 сакавіка 2022 году. У закрытым працэсе яго асудзілі на 21 год калёніі за тое, што нібыта падпаліў рэлейную шафу на чыгуначным перагоне Жэрдзь — Астанкавічы ў Сьветлагорскім раёне Гомельскай вобласьці 28 лютага 2022 году. Таксама яму далі штраф 5550 рублёў.

Жодзіна

12. Імя яшчэ аднаго рэйкавага партызана невядомае. Вядома толькі, што гэта 35-гадовы мужчына. Яго затрымалі 2 сакавіка 2022 году ў Жодзіне.

ГЛЯДЗІЦЕ ТАКСАМА:«Яны хацелі хаця б неяк дапамагчы Украіне». Брат «рэйкавага партызана» расказаў падрабязнасьці справы

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