The wife of a deceased Belarusian volunteer was denied benefits for her husband

Veronika Yanovich, a former soldier in the Kalinovsky Regiment, was denied not only the compensation for her deceased husband, the Belarusian volunteer Alexei Lazarev, but was also denied his final paycheck.  All of this is due to her Belarusian citizenship. 

Alexei Lazarev died in January 2026. According to Veronika, the bureaucratic obstacle arose due to the imperfections of new legislative provisions and regulations adopted in 2024, which formally classify relatives of Belarusian volunteers as high-risk categories based on their Russian or Belarusian citizenship. She emphasized that she had waited eight months for an official explanation of the denial, and that the text of the decisions effectively mentions her alongside collaborators and traitors.

Veronika noted that she decided to speak publicly about this issue for the sake of other families of Belarusian and foreign volunteers who, due to fear of persecution or a lack of resources, are unable to defend their rights. Lawyers, human rights activists, and representatives of the Supreme Council are now involved in resolving this legal dispute.

Source: “Euro Radio.”

During her visit to Kyiv, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya presented awards to Belarusian volunteers participating in combat operations as part of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. These are medals for Belarusian citizens fighting on Ukraine’s side in the Russia-Ukraine war. The event took place as part of the opposition politician’s visit to the Ukrainian capital.

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