The regiment is called the future army of New Belarus. What has the regiment become in two years? According to the first results, these are no longer just volunteers, but a professional army.

Infrastructure, logistics and the possibility of expansion

Today, Kalinovsky’s regiment is a military structure with vast combat experience and a developed organizational structure. This is a developed infrastructure, which includes its own recruiting centre, volunteer network, training centres where volunteers are trained, a press centre, a car service, and its own logistics.

The combat unit of the regiment includes the “Volat” battalion, the “Lytvin” battalion, the “Nykyta Kryutsov” UAV, a medical company and a mechanized unit. Since 2023, a new subdivision named after Kostyushka has been formed. It consists of foreign citizens, mostly residents of the European Union and the United States, who have served in professional armed forces and have extensive military experience. The regiment seeks to adopt this experience and pass it on to Belarusian soldiers.

In 2022, the PKK united with Belarusian cyber guerrillas. They are the ones who check recruits, protect and maintain the regiment’s digital infrastructure.

“The main thing we have achieved in two years is the training of an experienced team that is able to hire, train and manage a large number of volunteers in a short period. This means that in the current conditions, with already existing combat experience, the regiment can quickly expand to the size of a brigade,” says one of the founders of the RPK, nicknamed Mykola.

NATO Standards Department

In military terms, the Kalinovsky regiment can be defined as a highly mobile special-purpose infantry unit that has light armoured vehicles, its own mortars, heavy artillery, and also has its own UAV units that carry out reconnaissance, correction and strikes.

Structurally, Kalinovsky’s regiment is part of the International Legion, a unit subordinate to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defenсe of Ukraine. The legion consists entirely of fighters of high professionalism and previous military experience, and the weapons and ammunition here meet NATO standards.

The battle path and its heroes

Since its creation, the Belarusian unit has participated in battles at the hottest areas of the front – for Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Lysychansk, Severodanetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Bakhmut, Klishchiivka, Kupyansk and other cities and towns of Ukraine.

Unfortunately, some Belarusian soldiers and commanders gave their lives in the fight against the Russian aggressor, becoming the new heroes of Belarus. The unit suffered its first losses during the defence of Kyiv – in Buch and Irpin. Then the Belarusian volunteers Ilya Grenov with the call sign “Lytvyn” and Dmytro Apanasovich with the call sign “Terror” died.

Also, Kalinov fighters, who died in battles, Pavlo Suslav “Volat”, Ivan Marchuk “Brest”, Vasyl Grudavik “Atom”, Vasyl Parfyankov “Syabro”, Vadym Shatrov “Papik” and Myroslav Lazovsky “Myshka” and 11 more soldiers of the regiment, information about whom, due to security measures regarding their relatives in Belarus, we cannot report. Eternal memory and honour to them!

Support of the Belarusian people and lack of equipment

The work of the Regiment is supported by a developed network of volunteers. Although individual donations decrease over time – the factor of war fatigue plays a role, businesses with Belarusian roots from various countries play their part in the financial support of the resistance. In addition, the organized support of Belarusians around the world has increased.

On average, patrons donate up to $1.5 million a year in the form of military equipment and earmarked financial contributions for the regiment’s combat missions. This aid supports units in battle. But this is still not enough to achieve a good level of technological support. Today’s war is a technology war. Therefore, a constant and necessary part of the needs are various types of drones and consumables, computers and software for them, night vision devices, EW systems, etc.

Honour from the Ukrainian people: streets named in honour of Belarusians and awards from the hands of Zelensky

The achievements of Belarusian volunteers are seriously changing the attitude towards the Belarusian people as a whole. Thus, during the war in Ukraine, several initiatives aimed at honouring the Belarusians who stood up for the defence of Ukraine were carried out.

Several RPK fighters were awarded state awards of Ukraine from the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. Several military personnel received III-grade “For Courage” awards from the hands of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Volodymyr Zelenskyi also awarded the rank of regimental volunteer Oleksiy Tur Skobla, who died in the battles for Kyiv. Hero of Ukraine. Oleksiy became the second Belarusian to receive this title. The first was Mykhailo Zhiznevskyi, who was killed during protests on the Maidan in 2014.

Streets in honour of Belarusians have appeared in several Ukrainian cities. Ilya “Lytvina” street appeared in the village of Vorzel, Buchan district, and Oleksiy Skobly street and alley appeared in Khmelnytskyi. Streets in Kyiv and Mukachevo are now named after Kastus Kalynovskyi. In Zhytomyr, Polku Street named after Kastus Kalynovsky appeared. In honour of Mykhailo Zhiznevsky, the streets were named Zhvyagel and Chernivtsi.

Kalinovsky’s regiment is the core of the army of the new Belarus.

“During the two years of the war, several thousand Belarusians underwent training, service and combat operations. Potentially, these people can lead liberation groups in the cities and towns of Belarus at the appropriate time. After all, without the participation of the masses, the Lukashenko regime will not fall. However, someone will have to organize and lead these masses. Today’s fighters of the regiment will be able to become commanders, leaders and guides in their native land tomorrow. Next, the Kalinovites are the future instructors, the core of the new Belarusian army.

There is no army without a state, and there is no state without an army. The RPK command understands this. At the end of autumn 2023, the “Path to Freedom” conference organized by the “Kastus Kalynovskyi Regiment” was held in Kyiv. During this event, they tried to convey this to the representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces who had gathered in Kyiv,” says the head of the Belarusian Communications Centre Maksym Plyashko in a congratulatory address to Palka.

Summing up the results of the two years, the commander of the troops Denys Prokharov with the call sign “Cat” noted: “I believe that the Belarusians who are currently fighting for Ukraine have chosen the only correct path for the liberation of Belarus. If Russia wins this war, we will have to forget about Belarus as an independent state for a long time. Therefore, I evaluate these 2 years of development of the Kalinovsky regiment as a Belarusian unit positively. We went through a difficult path, gained tremendous experience, and remained a united team. Currently, the regiment is the largest national unit in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This fact in itself suggests that we have achieved a lot. I’m sure there will be more.”