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How do they hold the test of time? Another year of battles of the Kalinouski Regiment in Ukraine
Both sides of the Russo-Ukrainian war have eagerly made use of foreign volunteers. These individuals assist not only by training local soldiers but also by taking direct part in combat on the front lines. One such formation worth examining is the Belarusian Kalinouski Regiment.
Photo. Freedom of Russia Legion/Wikimedia Commons
The Kalinouski Regiment consists of Belarusian volunteers fighting on the side of Ukraine. It was initially formed as a battalion on March 9 at the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war and was reorganized into a regiment in May of the same year. It operates under the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate. The Regiment is named after Kastus Kalinoŭski, the leader of the national liberation uprising of 1863–1864 in the Belarusian-Lithuanian territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The uprising, of course, was directed against Russia, which ruled those lands at the time.
The Humble Beginnings
The Regiment was first composed of Belarusian volunteers from Tactical Group Belarus, who had previously participated in the war in Donbas. Since the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the Regiment has taken part in the defence of Kyiv, Irpin, and Bucha. Its volunteers have also fought in the battles of Mykolaiv, Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Bakhmut, Kupiansk, and Kharkiv.
Number of Soldiers
It is difficult to determine the exact number of current members of the Regiment. Estimates range from 500 to 5,000 soldiers. Such information is not even available on the Regiment’s official website, which states: “We do not have the right to disclose the exact number, since information on the quantitative composition of all military units is classified as a state secret in the field of defence. In addition, the number of fighters in the Regiment is constantly growing.”
In reality, the number is probably somewhere below 1,000 active volunteers. In November 2025, Belsat interviewed the Regiment’s former commander, Pavel Shurmei, alias “Dziadzka.” He admitted that “given the number of soldiers in the Kalinouski Regiment, it should no longer be called a regiment, and even if we talk about the past, the name was given exaggeratedly.” There are fewer Belarusian volunteers serving in it today than in previous years, which is a general and understandable trend observed across all volunteer units of the Ukrainian Defence Forces.
Arms and Support
The Regiment receives Western weaponry from the Ukrainian state. However, Ukraine is not the only source of its equipment. The Belarusian diaspora, including members of the Belarusian political opposition abroad, provides significant support. For example, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s United Transitional Cabinet has supplied the Regiment with DJI Matrice 30 drones.
According to information available on official sources, the Regiment is equipped with BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, M113 and FV103 armored personnel carriers, HMMWV light armored vehicles, and 2A65 Msta-B towed howitzers.
Recent Events
The most recent significant development concerning the Regiment was the change in its structure and operations announced on October 6, 2025. The chain of command shifted from a single commander to a collective command model. All key administrative, social, and logistical decisions are now made collectively by the Council of Commanders, which includes the commanders of all combat units. The Ukrainian military command still retains operational control over the Regiment.
The Regiment has also established a political movement, the “Kalinoŭcy” public organization. Pavel Shurmei, the Regiment’s former commander, has been tasked with representing it in the political and public sphere. The political wing of the Regiment could cooperate with other members of the Belarusian opposition in Europe, such as Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s United Transitional Cabinet.
As for military activities, it has been reported that members of the Regiment were fighting in the Zaporizhzhia sector during the winter of 2025. Their activities have been shared on the Regiment’s YouTube channel.
The Ultimate Goal
The Regiment’s motto could be summarized as: “The liberation of Belarus through the liberation of Ukraine.” The Regiment’s volunteers view Russia as a common enemy of both Belarus and Ukraine. They hope that if Ukraine wins the war, Vladimir Putin’s regime will collapse, making it possible to change the regime in Belarus, which has been ruled by Alexander Lukashenko for more than 30 years.
The Regiment’s website elaborates on this goal, envisioning the future of the Belarusian nation “as an integral cultural, political, military, and economic part of the European space. Our neighbours—Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia—with whom we share a history of common statehood, have been friends of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.” It is believed that Belarus’s natural goal should be to strive for membership in the European Union and become part of NATO.
The protracted war does not favour the cause of Belarusian volunteers fighting in Ukraine. Naturally, their numbers will decline as the war continues unless a new catalyst—such as the 2020 protests in Belarus—inspires more people to enrol. For now, their ultimate goal remains unlikely to be achieved, as Ukraine is not outright winning the war and support for it is waning. The Belarusian opposition is only as strong as the international support it receives, and amid the ongoing conflicts and uncertainty of the international environment, Belarus is not even in the back of the minds of the West. The regime in Belarus is unlikely to change without a change in Moscow first, and the Regiment and Belarusian opposition have little to no influence in that regard.
