On April 10, the commander of the Belarusian Volunteer Corps, Radzivon Batulin, known by the callsign “Gena,” spoke about Belarusians’ motivation to defend Ukraine and their significant operations in an interview published on the “ePidval” YouTube channel. One negative aspect also highlighted is the lack of mechanisms for successfully legalizing foreign volunteers in Ukraine.

Radzivon Batulin discussed it in an interview on the YouTube channel “RAID | 413th UAS Battalion.”

Radzivon: We have this bureaucratic problem that the patronage services attached to military units deal exclusively with issues related to Ukrainian citizens. Therefore, sometimes, they don’t understand or know the mechanisms to help us obtain, for instance, residence permits or disability status.

Arsenii: And they don’t grant you citizenship either.

Radzivon: So far, there haven’t been such cases.

Arsenii: Like, there’s just no mechanism.

Radzivon: There’s no mechanism. Right. Laws have been passed, but no mechanism has been established so far. You’ll allegedly be granted citizenship if you survive three years of this war. If you don’t or, for instance, get discharged for some reason and later re-enlisted, these three years don’t count again. Or what? I don’t know. Everyone understands that to survive three years, especially if you’re in an assault or reconnaissance group on the front line—or any—if you just go to a frontline city, you’re already at such a risk that surviving three years is a legendary story. It’s a huge problem.

By the way, Help Army is helping us with this. They are currently creating a civilian wing of the patronage service, which allows us, the Belarusian Volunteer Corps and the Russian Volunteer Corps, to break through this wall of bureaucratic misunderstanding with the state. So we can be officially recognized as disabled instead of just: “No legs? Okay, at least you still have an arm. Goodbye.” Unfortunately, that’s the situation now.

Arsenii: The state could solve this issue with the snap of a finger—just a stroke of a pen on a document.

Radzivon: Exactly. We’re not millions here. Thousands of foreign volunteers — that’s not such a heavy burden on the budget compared to, for example, all these prosecutors who are limited-fit, disabled, and so on. Just restore this institution. Consider who can be stripped of their status or benefits to grant those who genuinely deserve it, like many of our guys who, despite having lost their legs, continue to perform the toughest operations on the front lines. Not because they have nothing else to do but because they consciously chose this path. And we will continue this fight for liberation until we are no longer in this world. Maybe the state should adopt a more flexible perspective on the current situation.

Arsenii: This issue needs widespread promotion via social media and other communication channels. It shows a shocking lack of appreciation for the warriors who sacrificed for us, many of whom are no longer here. This situation is indeed shameful for the state.

The interview was translated by Sofiia Yakivtsiv