Former Kalinoŭski fighter Ralko sentenced to 10 years in prison

November 19, Pozirk. The Minsk City Court has sentenced Maksim Ralko, a former soldier of the Belarusian Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment (KKR) that fights alongside Ukrainian forces, to ten years in prison, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported.

Minsk had declared the KKR a terrorist group. The prosecutor accused Ralko of “taking part in the armed conflict and hostilities” in Ukraine “without authorization from his country of citizenship.”

Ralko can appeal the sentence.

One year ago, Belarus’ ONT television channel showed Ralko in the propaganda film “How Demons Want to Capture Belarus,” without reporting how he ended up in Belarus or the circumstances of his detention.

It showed Ralko saying the regiment’s goal was to invade Belarus.

According to the Viasna Human Rights Center, Ralko was arrested in 2024 when entering Belarus from Poland.

Belarus supports Russia in its war against Ukraine. Minsk prosecutes volunteers who fight alongside Ukrainian forces, but has not prosecuted a single volunteer who joined Russian forces.

Former Kalinoŭski fighter Ralko held in detention in Belarus