Russia-Ukraine War: Belarusian Army Joins Ukraine Forces To Take On Russians — WATCH

According to The Kyiv Independent, the members of the battalion named after Kastus Kalinouski took oath and became part of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

Members of the Belarusian Army take oath before joining Ukraine’s armed forces (Image: The Kyiv Independent/Twitter)

New Delhi: As Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues for more than a month now despite global condemnation, foreign fighters from Belarus have officially joined hands with Kyiv to take on Moscow’s military advance.

According to The Kyiv Independent, the members of the battalion named after Kastus Kalinouski took oath and became part of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

“Belarusian Volunteer Battalion officially joins Ukraine’s military. The members of the battalion named after Kastus Kalinouski, Belarusian 19th century writer and revolutionary, took oath and became part of Ukraine’s Armed Forces,” The Kyiv Independent tweeted with the video of the battalion taking an oath to Belarus.

“The video shows the battalion taking oath to Belarus, in the Belarusian language. The Belarusian language is endangered as the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko favors Russian and discriminates against Belarusian speakers, who are already a minority,” The Kyiv Independent wrote on the micro-blogging platform.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his nation’s forces “have dealt powerful blows to the enemy”.

Zelensky in a video address posted on Facebook asserted that there were “significant losses” on the Russian side.

“Over the past week, our heroic Armed Forces have dealt powerful blows to the enemy, significant losses,” he said, IANS reported.

Referring to the reported disappearance of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Ukrainian President said: “I wonder if he personally wanted to visit Chornobaivka.”

Zelensky’s remarks came as the Russian Defence Minister was last seen in public on March 11.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky’s adviser Anton Gerashchenko, as per a BBC report, said Shoigu suffered a heart attack “after a tough accusation by Putin for a complete failure of the invasion of Ukraine”.

The adviser added that the Russian Defence Minister is currently “undergoing rehabilitation” in hospital.

Thanking the “defenders”, the Ukrainian President further said: “By restraining Russia's actions, our defenders are leading the Russian leadership to a simple and logical idea: talk is necessary. Meaningful. Urgent. Fair. For the sake of the result, not for the sake of the delay.”

Zelensky also touched on the suffering in the besieged city of Mariupol.

“The situation in the city remains tragic. Absolutely tragic. The Russian military does not allow any humanitarian aid into the city,” he added in his video message.

Meanwhile, the governor of Kyiv region on Saturday said the Russian forces have taken control of a town where workers at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant live, Reuters reported.