Viachaslau Hranouski, who spent years protecting Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, is now fighting to topple the Minsk tyrant.
The former policeman is now fighting against Russian forces alongside other Belarusian defectors in the Kastuś Kalinoŭski regiment on the frontline in Ukraine.
Belarus is Russia‘s closest ally and has supported Vladimir Putin‘s war against Ukraine. President Lukashenko allowed Russian forces to stage part of the invasion in 2022 from its territory and has since allowed missile launchers to shoot at Ukrainian targets. There is growing speculation that Russia will station some of its nuclear weapons in Belarus in a threat to Ukraine
Speaking to the Observer from Kharkiv in Ukraine, Mr Hranouski said that his fight against Lukashenko had also become a fight against President Putin.
The former policeman described the moment he decided to defect. In 2020, Belarus erupted into mass protests and demonstrations following a rigged presidential election which handed President Lukashenko another term in office. Mr Hranouski was among the top guards tasked with protecting the Belarusian leader from the protesters.
He said: “There I was, protecting the man who had hijacked the country. That was the moment I understood I didn’t want to be part of it anymore.”
The policeman-turned-freedom fighter said that he witnessed the Belarusian regime torturing protesters, while his colleagues joked and mocked the demonstrators.
Mr Hranouski swiftly fled Belarus in 2020 and, once Russia invaded Ukraine with the help of his country, he joined up to fight against President Putin’s forces.
Mr Hranouski has fought in dozens of frontline battles, survived the siege of Bakhmut, and lost four close friends in the war.
He said: “Lukashenko is my enemy now. The only reason he’s still in power is because of Russia. And the only way to defeat him is to fight Putin.”
Mr Hranouski said that hundreds of Belarusians are fighting alongside Ukrainians in the war.
The Kastuś Kalinoŭski regiment claims to be fighting not only for Ukraine but also for a Belarus free from dictatorship. The troops’ mission is for the “liberation of Belarus through the liberation of Ukraine”.
There is hope that a Ukrainian victory in the war would trigger the collapse of the Kremlin regime and, in turn, the Lukashenko dictatorship in Belarus.
President Lukashenko recently designated the Kastuś Kalinoŭski regiment a terrorist organisation.
Back home, Mr Hranouski faces multiple criminal charges, including for mercenary activity, participating in an extremist organisation and high treason.
However, Mr Hranouski has no regrets. He insists he is not bothered whether his former colleagues are fighting on the other side of the war.
He said: “I watched my Ukrainian brother get torn apart right in front of me at the beginning of the invasion. Why would I care about those who support the killers?”