Alexander Azarov, head of BYPOL, reveals strategic plans to create a partisan movement in Belarus, emphasizing the strategic partnership with Ukraine, and delicately mentions the role of Belarusian partisans in supporting Ukraine in the “rail war”.
Alexander Azarov is the head of BYPOL, an organization created by former Belarusian security officials who resigned in 2020 after the rigging of the presidential elections in Belarus. The goal of BYPOL is the restoration of law and order in Belarus, in other words, the removal of Lukashenko from power as a criminal who seized power illegally, and the establishment of democracy through the holding of democratic elections, primarily to parliament under the control of the international community.
— When and why was BYPOL created?
— I believe that Lukashenko committed a crime under Art. 357 part 3 of the Criminal Code of Belarus - illegal seizure of power, resulting in the death of people. As a result of the suppression of peaceful protests, more than a dozen Belarusians were killed, tens of thousands were arrested and subjected to torture and beatings. In the first three days of protests alone, more than 1,000 protesters were taken to hospitals in Minsk, 69 of whom had gunshot and mine-explosive wounds.
BYPOL was created in October-December 2020 in Poland, it is currently joined by about 600 former and, most importantly, current employees of various law enforcement agencies of Belarus (Ministry of Internal Affairs, Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of Defense, Investigative Committee, State Border Committee, Ministry of Emergency Situations and etc.), thanks to which we are able to receive up-to-date information from the system
— Tell us about the goals and objectives of the organization you head.
— BYPOL supports Ukraine in the war with Russia, considers the Russian Federation to be the aggressor in this war, the enemy of the Belarusian people, and the Lukashenko regime is a co-aggressor in the war. Putin and Lukashenko must be held criminally responsible as war criminals, they must be brought before the International Criminal Military Tribunal, and we will facilitate this in every possible way. We stand for the complete independence of Belarus from Russia, for the establishment of a border with Russia, which currently does not exist, and for the termination of all political and military treaties with this state. Ukraine is a strategic partner for us and we are doing everything possible to help Ukraine win the war; without exaggeration, the fate of the whole world depends on this, including, of course, Belarus. The people of Belarus are an ally of Ukraine, the Lukashenko regime is a co-aggressor in the war.
— Who and where did you work before Lukashenko’s seizure of power in 2020?
— I am a police lieutenant colonel, although Lukashenko deprived me of the rank by his decree. He served in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in various positions for more than 21 years, for the last 11 years he served in the central apparatus of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as the head of a department, and before his dismissal he taught operational-search activities at the Police Academy of Belarus.
Now I am the coordinator of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus for the Peramoga plan and the underground movement in Belarus, the main direction of my activity is the creation of partisan cells inside Belarus within the framework of the Peramoga plan to fight both the Russian occupation forces and their ally - the criminal regime of Lukashenko.
— Is this what BYPOL offers Belarusians instead of peaceful protest?
— Having studied the results of peaceful protests in Belarus in 2020, we came to the conclusion that the Lukashenko regime cannot be defeated in this way, especially since Lukashenko himself stated that he would cease to be president only when he was carried out of the office feet first. Therefore, our experts, experienced in military planning, developed the Peramoga plan, which was announced in May 2021. This plan called on Belarusians to join it through a chatbot on Telegram. About 200 thousand Belarusians joined this plan. Initially, the plan was designed to allow citizens to take to the streets again en masse. However, Lukashenko's regime launched unprecedented repressions, as a result of which thousands of Belarusians who openly protested against Lukashenko's illegal seizure of power were arrested and sent to prison. More than 1,450 Belarusians are officially recognized by the European Union as political prisoners. In 2020 alone, about 40 thousand people were arrested and subjected to repression. The repression does not stop; every day the regime publishes videos of newly detained people. In this regard, and also taking into account the current situation in the region, the Peramoga plan is being modernized to create a partisan movement and use guerrilla tactics developed by our ancestors during the Second World War. We believe that Belarus is occupied by Russia and Lukashenko is actually its proteges and fulfills any wishes of his overlord. We stand for the creation of a national liberation movement with the strategic partnership of Ukraine.
— How does Lukashenko’s regime react to the threat from BYPOL?
— At the moment, the Investigative Committee of Belarus has completed a criminal investigation against me and other employees of the organization; I am accused of allegedly committing 11 criminal offenses, including terrorism and treason. The regime media predicts the death penalty for me as punishment. This does not scare me and will not stop me; my team and I will continue our struggle until Victory over the regimes of Lukashenko and Putin.
— Please tell us about the “rail war” and other actions of Belarusian partisans in support of Ukraine.
— In February 2022, when Russia began a full-scale war against Ukraine, about 30 thousand Belarusians signed up for the Peramoga plan, we received about 5 thousand messages asking for an action plan to help Ukraine. In this regard, BYPOL announced a “rail war” against Russian military trains. Which was supported by the Belarusian leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. Our partisans inside the country in February-March carried out dozens of actions to destroy railway signaling and relay cabinets, which led in the first week to a complete stop of railway traffic for the supply of military cargo by rail towards Kiev during a full-scale offensive by Russian troops. And subsequently to a significant slowdown in movement and impeding the timely delivery of ammunition, fuel, manpower and equipment of the enemy to the sites of hostilities in the Kiev region, which to some extent helped to push the enemy away from Kiev and drive him out of Ukraine in the northern direction. At the same time, Belarusian cyber partisans attacked the internal network of the Belarusian Railway. In addition, Belarusian partisans, together with Ukrainian partners, carried out an action in February 2023 at the Machulishchi military airfield near Minsk against a Russian A50 reconnaissance aircraft, as a result of which the aircraft’s radar antenna was damaged, the aircraft left for repairs and has not returned to date. It should be noted that, according to various estimates, there are 7-9 such aircraft in Russia; their tasks include identifying air defense and other military installations on the territory of Ukraine and transmitting coordinates for missile attacks.
The Lukashenko regime responded very harshly to the partisan actions; in the case of Machulishchi, according to the dictator, about 60 Belarusians were arrested, who were not actually involved in the action. Fortunately, the protesters left on time and joined BYPOL. The regime's punitive forces carried out mass arrests of residents of settlements close to the sites of the protests, and used firearms against the partisans. Machine gun nests were installed in the area of the railway. For the purpose of intimidation, two partisans were shot in the legs after their arrest. This atrocity was demonstrated by the regime on state channels. The detained partisans were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, up to 20 years.
