Belarusian extradited from Vietnam for fighting for Ukraine faces long prison term or death penalty

A member of the Belarusian opposition’s Coordination Council and former officer with the Belarusian volunteer Kalinouski Regiment has been extradited from Vietnam to Belarus, state-owned news agency BELTA reported on Wednesday.

Vasil Verameychyk was handed over to Belarus for alleged ties to the Kalinouski Regiment, which Belarus has deemed a terrorist organisation, Konstantin Bychek, head of the KGB’s Investigation Department, told BELTA.

Independent Belarusian weekly Nasha Niva reported earlier on Wednesday that Verameychyk had been detained, saying he was in Vietnam as Lithuania had deemed him a threat to national security and banned him from entering the European Union.

Verameychyk was detained on 13 November and extradited to Belarus the following day, the Prokopiev-Yegorov Bloc, a Belarusian opposition group, said in a Telegram post. He was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City after getting involved in a fight, which the bloc claimed had been orchestrated by the Belarusian KGB. Verameychyk faces a 20-year prison sentence or the death penalty in Belarus.

Verameychyk had previously served in the Belarusian army, and participated in the protests surrounding the stolen presidential election in 2020 before moving to Ukraine.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Verameychyk joined the Kalinouski Regiment, a group of Belarusian opposition volunteers fighting for Ukraine, and became deputy battalion commander. He was wounded and awarded a medal, but a conflict within the regiment meant he was ultimately unwelcome in Ukraine, the Prokopiev-Egorov Bloc said.