Источник фото: t.me/KIM_SAMUSENKA
Former political prisoner Kim Samusenka said Belarusian volunteers took part in Ukraine’s Operation Vivaldi, which ended with the liberation of 16 settlements and 277 square kilometers of territory. According to him, fighters from the Belarusian Volunteer Corps (BVK) participated in the operation.
On October 14, the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ 3rd Army Corps, Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi, announced the completion of the operation. According to figures cited by Samusenka, the operation consisted of four stages. During the final stage, Ukrainian forces liberated Zelena Dolyna, Lipove and Kolodiazi, bringing 101 square kilometers of territory back under their control.
Russia’s total losses in Ukraine amounted to 8,000 military personnel. More than 250 prisoners of war were also reported captured, along with the destruction of approximately 68,000 Russian drones and 3,800 pieces of equipment. The operation thwarted Russian forces’ plans to encircle the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration from the north, reduced the threat to the M-03 Izium-Sloviansk highway and opened an additional route toward Lyman and Sloviansk.
Samusenka said fighters from the Belarusian Volunteer Corps participated in the operation as part of the HATRED reconnaissance battalion of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ 3rd Army Corps. They carried out reconnaissance missions, set up ambushes, established routes and took part in reconnaissance and strike operations.
“Belarusian volunteers operated near Redkodub, Novyi, Lipove, Katerynivka and Zelena Dolyna, as well as in forest belts near Kolodiazi, Ivanivka and Novoliubivka,” Samusenka wrote.
According to the unit, Belarusian volunteers were responsible for more than 100 enemy servicemen and approximately 20 prisoners of war.
Samusenka also said that during the operation, the fighters killed Raman Kandratsenka, a Belarusian citizen born in 1990 who had fought on Russia’s side. In September 2025, a missing-person notice for him was published in one of the Mahiliou community groups. The author of the post said it was unknown where Kandratsenka had been between his disappearance and the signing of a contract with the Russian army.
One of the unit’s commanders, responding to Samusenka’s questions, said the early stages of the operation had been particularly important for the Belarusian Volunteer Corps.
“All stages of the missions carried out as part of Operation Vivaldi were important. The initial steps in this operation were particularly important for the Belarusian Volunteer Corps. Getting started is always difficult. However, positive results were achieved in the early stages, setting the pace for subsequent operations,” he said.
According to the commander, the volunteers captured commanders of Russian units and gathered information about the situation on the front line and behind enemy lines.
The commander also said that the working conditions for reconnaissance infantry had changed in 2026. Fighters now have to travel longer distances to reach mission areas and devote more attention to camouflage and communications. According to him, the proliferation of drones equipped with thermal imaging and infrared cameras has made movement at night more difficult.
One Belarusian volunteer was seriously wounded during the operation. Samusenka called on people to support a fundraising campaign to help him.