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Comment by proxysna | Hacker News Reader

The thing is that he never fought. By the time he arrived to the battalion there were no deployments to the frontline anymore. He was in training, took a few photos and left. Biletsky's words differ depending on when you ask him and soldiers that trained with him say that he never was in action.

While azov is definitely is not a great bunch, in 2014 it was one of the only groups, alongside with donbas battalion that was accepting volunteers and this was the main attraction. A lot of belarusians and ukranians got there, fought and left and they realized what azov is really about.

Tut.by's article: https://telegra.ph/Voeval-li-Protasevich-v-Ukraine-05-27

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It's interesting to see this [0] on svaboda.org which certainly cannot be considered Putin/Lukashenka's propaganda by anyone.

[0] https://www.svaboda.org/a/27255566.html

While this is Protasevich's photo. Age in the article does not line up he was 19 at the moment of article publication, Protasevich joined Pahonya division at a later date, not when the division was just formed.

The article does not say he's 22; it quotes "Kim" reporting his age as 22. While Protasevich was 20 at the publication time, he could have concealed his age, e.g. to prevent identification.

They could have used other soldiers photo to conceal identity. Again, Protasevich joined Pahonya at a later date, not at the very start.

I don't seem to get what you're saying. Do you suggest svaboda.org used a photo from the future when it published that article on September 18, 2015? If you're not saying that, I think we can agree he was there on that date or before.

Nope, i am saying just like they gave away fake age for the reporter, they could've used just some random photo from backlog of a nondescript soldier with azov patch to put into article. I am not arguing that was not there. I am just arguing that the article is not really a proof of him being a combatant.

Let's leave "Kim" aside. Is the picture of a person with Protasevich's face carrying a weapon and magazines a sufficient proof of Protasevich being a combatant, in your opinion?

This proves that he took part in training. Posing with a weapon on a shooting range, does not define him as a combatant.

Combat medics, for example, that are by Geneva convention are non-combatants are still trained to use rifles and carry at least a pistol, in most militaries, for personal protection during active service.

This argument is threading thin on the edge of "plausible deniability" but the problem is that no one (as of yet) is claiming he was there as a "medic". The claim being raised is that he's been there as a "journalist". Surely journalists don't have to take part in the military training of the combatants they are covering as a part of their job?

The issue with this is, in the court of public opinion, once it's proven that your "alibi" doesn't hold water, you aren't allowed to come with an alternative "alibi", but rather perceived as a liar; otherwise you would tell the truth from the beginning.

Medics were just an example. No need to call me a liar. Journalists do train.

West. Basic training. https://www.todaysmilitary.com/careers-benefits/careers/publ...

East. The "Тактика" и "Военная подготовка" part. This is an example of russian uni that trains military journalists specifically, still during my time in my military dept (not military uni, just a dept) in uni "Военная подготовка" went above and beyond shooting on a range and ruck marches. https://voronezh.postupi.online/vuz/vgu/programma/10008/

European countries mostly pick fresh recruits after basic, and do additional training, then they assigned a role.

I most certainly wasn't calling you a liar, sorry if it came out this way. It wasn't my intention at all.

And I’m sure his mom bought him that T-shirt!

And later in Belarus he worked against authoritarian fascist regime and against exactly what azovs ideology now represents. In a country where you are actively pursued by cops for critiquing people in power and cops have no responsibility and any kind of limitations on use of force, being a journalist that even somewhat challenges the system takes balls and dedication.

Most of my family got affected by the regime at some point before leaving the country, witnessed massacre in 2011, gov-t staged terrorist acts. And knowing how Belarus needs people like Protasevich, Putilo, Zavadski, Byabenin, Cherkasova i am willfully dismissing his misdoings in favour of his later achievements.

I know that people love to let their entire opinion be based on a single article, but let the bigger picture in.

> being a journalist that even somewhat challenges the system

Would be nice to read his articles if there are any. He's a journalist after all. Right?

Right

Worked for euroradio

https://euroradio.fm/en/anarchists-describe-their-arrests-i-...

https://euroradio.fm/en/young-man-imprisoned-drug-related-cr...

https://euroradio.fm/en/girl-you-better-go-do-some-work-and-...

https://euroradio.fm/en/lithuania-prepares-potential-belnpp-...

Moved to poland fearing arrest. Joined Nexta. Biggest belarusian tg channel.

https://t.me/s/nexta_live

Enjoy, most of the stuff before september 28th.

edit: Anarchists in Belarus are actively persecuted by kgb over the last 20 years. They are seen as enemies of the state and are constantly watched. Police brutality, election fraud, are themes that are very taboo in state media, and journalists that write about these things are often arrested because of treir work.

I was interested in his earlier pieces: it’s been stated that Protasevich joined Azov as a journalist, not a neo-nazi combatant. Did he write anything about his experience in Azov?

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