Eduard Lobau

dreamed of becoming an officer in Belarus, so he joined the army.

In 2010, he was put behind bars and served 4 years "from call to call" because he refused to write a request for clemency.

Since 2015, he served as a volunteer, and then as a contract worker in Ukraine.

, the mother of Eduard Lobov, who died in Ukraine .

"When the younger brother was born, Edik grew up quickly"

Eduard Lobau was born on December 1, 1988 in Vilnius.

His mother Marina was from there, and his father studied at the School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The family moved to Belarus when Edzik was a little over a year old - during the Soviet Union, his father was sent to serve in the Belarusian town of Postavy

- What was Eduard like in childhood?

- As a child Edik was very smart, so fast, mischievous.

He liked to take everything apart, to see how it was built, what it was made of.

That's why his toys and entertainment didn't "live" for a long time - the boy had to figure out how it worked. When he was little, it was difficult for me: I had to watch him all the time so that he wouldn't get into anything, because he was interested in everything, everything was interesting.

Eduard Lobau in childhood

He went to school in Postavy.

And there it was difficult for me at first with him, because the boy is very smart.

But when the younger brother was born (and they have a difference of 7 years), Eduard grew up somehow quickly and began to help me.

My husband and I divorced.

My grandmothers were not around: my parents lived in Vilnius, my husband - 40 kilometers from us.

I worked, and Edik had to take my brother to kindergarten, then to school, and pick him up from there.

Edik could feed him.

He was very independent from childhood.

He dreamed of entering the Military Academy, but failed the medical examination

- What was Edik fond of, what did he love?

- At school, Edik practiced in the karate section.

At first, there was no special interest in studies.

But while still at school, he became interested in military service.

When he clearly decided on the choice of profession and decided to become an officer, he began to study better.

When Edik studied in the 8th grade, we moved to Minsk.

He graduated from the 219th school with good grades.

I wanted to enter the Military Academy.

But it was not possible to get a medical certificate.

When Edik was 2 years old, we had an accident, he had a broken leg, he was lying on a stretcher in Minsk for a month.

And then he had a slight curvature of the spine.

In short, they did not provide a medical certificate, they were "rejected" from the Academy.

Eduard was very upset.

But he still decided to get his way: to go to the army first, and after the service it will be easier to enter the Academy than after school.

Served in Vitebsk landing brigade

- It turns out strangely, he is not fit for the Military Academy due to his health, but he is fit for the airborne troops...

- Yes.

Edik went to the military office, said that he dreams of becoming a soldier, wants to serve in the landing force.

He was offered a choice of three landing brigades: in Brest, Maryina Gorka and Vitsebsk.

He chose the 103rd Separate Guards Airborne Brigade in Vitebsk.

Eduard Lobau in the Belarusian army

- Did he have any idea what was happening in the army?

- When he grew up, matured, he understood what was happening in Belarus.

But Edik hoped that there was still more order in the army than in the country.

I watched a lot of military programs, and there they showed only good, exemplary!

When he found himself in the army and saw everything from the inside, he began to try to restore order.

He was joined by Andrus Tianyuta from the Young Front, who was also sent to serve in the same Vitebsk brigade.

Together they tried to treat the soldiers normally.

Toward the end of his service, Edik posted leaflets against army mischief throughout the unit's territory.

Well, he was punished for that - he was sent to the police station for 10 days.

And they demobilized a little later, in the summer of 2010.

After the army he joined the "Young Front"

- How did he get into "Young Front?"

How he joined the opposition - literally six months later he was detained...

- Before the army, Eduard did not know anyone from the opposition.

He was only interested in military service, prepared for it, read a lot of literature.

And not artistic, but historical, memoir.

He was interested in biographies of military leaders, serious books.

As a child, I gave him encyclopedias, not fairy tales and fables.

He liked to read a lot, he bought books himself.

Then he downloaded e-books to read in his free time.

When he was demobilized in the summer of 2010, he immediately joined the "Young Front" on the recommendation of Andrus Tsianyuta.

Preparations for the presidential elections have just begun.

Edzik became a member of the initiative group of presidential candidate Vitaly Rymaszewski.

Even before the elections, he was detained many times.

But later they let go - compared to the present time, there was a relative democracy then.

Eduard Lobau.

2014 year

When he was preventively detained on December 18, 2010 together with Zmitr Dashkevich, right before the elections, and then sentenced to 4 years, it was a tragedy for me.

(

).

I thought the world had collapsed.

Although Edik suspected that there would be provocations, that he might be imprisoned.

He warned me to be ready for anything and not to be particularly nervous.

Edik generally protected me from all kinds of worries and troubles.

He never complained about anything.

He was always fine.

Even when he was in prison, sick there, I learned about it when he recovered.

It was the same in Ukraine.

He protected me all the time.

"Edik believed that it was a humiliation to ask the illegally elected Lukashenka for pardon"

- But then both Zmytser Dashkevich and Eduard Lobau served time "from bell to bell", although they were not in the Square, like other political prisoners, who were released quite quickly.

I know that when Edik was in the Ivacevit colony, he was forced to write a petition for clemency at least three times.

Where does such stubbornness come from?

Could have come out earlier...

- Edik did not consider himself guilty.

What kind of pardon if he did nothing wrong?

He did not even reach the Square - he was taken away the day before.

What kind of pardon can we talk about if he is not guilty, he was imprisoned without guilt?

He always had honor and dignity.

Edik believed that it was a humiliation to ask the illegally elected Lukashenka for pardon, even if he did nothing.

Eduard Lobau upon release from prison.

2014 year

He was released on December 18, 2014.

When a man is released from prison, he thinks he will be free.

It turned out that everything is not so.

Pressure began, strict supervision.

They came with inspections at night, it was not possible to be late, it was not possible to go to the actions.

He had three violations, he was detained at the rally until the Day of Freedom.

Well, another criminal case was opened.

They wanted to plant again.

We decided that he should go.

Because it became simply impossible to live like this.

"

He firmly decided that he would go to Donbass as a volunteer"

- And where did he go?

Immediately to Ukraine?

- No.

In the summer of 2015, I took him to Vilnius.

He told me that he wanted to go to Ukraine for a while.

I thought that he would go away for a while, meet his friends there and come back.

But he stayed there.

I was shocked!

She persuaded him to go to Poland, because we are Poles.

My grandfather is a veteran of the Polish Army, took part in the defense of Warsaw, was in German captivity, after serving 10 years when the communists came... I wanted Edzik to go to Poland.

But he decided that in Ukraine he would serve in the army, fulfill his youthful dream of becoming a soldier.

He firmly decided that he would go to Donbas as a volunteer.

And since the summer of 2015, he has been a volunteer.

In 2017, a law was passed in Ukraine that non-citizens of Ukraine can be recruited into the army.

Eduard finished regular courses and signed a 3-year contract with the special purpose brigade in Khmelnytskyi.

He served there for 3 years.

I bought a small apartment in Khmelnytskyi, renovated it.

He had a good friend, Bogdan, a Ukrainian, who helped him.

That friend was killed at the beginning of the war...

He served for 3 years, was in the military, then a medic.

He completed many different military courses.

He constantly studied at some courses.

In the summer of 2020, he signed a contract with the 72nd mechanized brigade of "Black Zaporozhets", where Sasha Malchanov (also a former police prisoner, from Barysau) served.

In this brigade, he also went to various courses, received awards - "Cossack Cross" of the 3rd degree in 2021, a war veteran's medal when he was still a volunteer in the Donbass.

He was always proud of it, showed his awards, certificates.

Yan Melnikov (with a flag), Eduard Lobau (second from the right holding a poster).

Lviv, 2015

He enrolled to study as a psychologist at the institute by correspondence.

But it was no longer time to study.

My son and I used to see each other often: I went to see him in Kyiv, then, when he had already bought an apartment, in Khmelnytskyi.

I was going to go in the spring of 2020, but a pandemic was declared.

And I could not leave.

I haven't seen him since 2019.

All contacts were through messengers.

Award of Eduard Lobov

"I was convinced that Lukashenka could not be removed peacefully"

— And what did Eduard say about the events of 2020 in Belarus?

- Edik was not a supporter of peaceful events.

He was convinced that Lukashenka could not be removed peacefully.

He believed that then, in the summer of 2020, Belarusians had to fight.

And giving flowers to the policemen is already out of bounds.

They beat and raped people, and the girls gave them flowers... If there was serious resistance, it would be possible to win, Eduard thought.

After all, many videos were shown then, and if the men actually resisted the policemen, the security forces ran away.

They run away, they are afraid.

They can only beat those who do not resist: lying down, girls.

And in reality they are afraid.

2020 was hard for me too.

We have both a house and an apartment left in Belarus.

But I had to leave.

And when it became known that relatives of those who are fighting in Ukraine are being detained, it became clear that one cannot return to Belarus.

Eduard Lobau

"When the war started, he always comforted me, supported me"

- And how did you perceive the news about the beginning of the war?

What does a mother feel when her son is fighting in Ukraine?

- When I read that at the beginning of 2022, the Russians will concentrate their troops near the border with Ukraine, I felt that there would be a war.

I wrote to Edik about it.

He comforted me: "No, no, it's just teachings."

A week before the start of the war, I wrote again that there would probably be a war.

Edik replied: "Unfortunately, we cannot influence that."

He knew everything.

Before the war, he urgently went to another course, even postponed his vacation, mastered grenade launchers, NLAW, "javelins" (Western portable anti-tank missile systems. - RS).

When the war started, he always comforted me, supported me so that I wouldn't worry if he wasn't on the Internet, because there might be problems with communication.

As soon as I wake up, I pick up the phone and see if Edik was on the phone.

I went online recently - I'm happy!

Award of Eduard Lobov, signed by Valery Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Army

"He covered the departure of the wounded commander"

- And where did Eduard manage to fight?

— Eduard took part in the defense of Kiev.

For this, on May 4, 2022, he received the award "For Exemplary in Military Service" of the 3rd degree.

Liberated Chernobyl.

Later, he was thrown into the very hell - under the Seer.

The son was very tired.

He wrote that there was nowhere to sleep normally, it was impossible to rest.

He seemed very tired to me.

I have never written before that it is difficult, but here I wrote that the conditions are difficult...

It went online on February 24.

On the 25th, I asked if there were any changes for the better.

He didn't answer yet... And Edik was killed on the 26th.

Only yesterday I found out that he covered the departure of the wounded commander.

This is my Edik - he will not abandon anyone in trouble, he will not step aside himself.

He was always in charge.

If he said he would do it, he would do it...

I still don't know when the funeral will be.

Many bureaucratic problems have to be overcome.

In Ukraine, Eduard's body is still in the war zone.

I am very grateful to the Polish side for allowing me to bury my son here, safely and peacefully.

After all, Belarus deprived him of even a place for burial.

We would not be able to bury him there.

It is dangerous in Ukraine, there are battles going on.

I was surprised how many people wrote to me, called me - Lyudmila Mirzayanova, Natalya Pinchuk, Natalya Radina supported me literally in the first hours.

I don't know many at all.

My special thanks to Artur Michalski, the ambassador of Poland to Belarus, he is simply a golden man!

Helped us a lot.

Andrus Tianyuta initiated the collection of signatures for awarding Eduard the title "Hero of Ukraine".

Contacted the commander whom Edik saved.

They will draw up a petition and collect signatures.

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SAFE