by Vladislav Izmailov
[REGNUM] On January 25, Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Vilnius, where he took part in celebrations marking the anniversary of the outbreak of the Polish Uprising of 1863.
In addition to Zelensky, the events were attended by the presidents of Poland and Lithuania, as well as the leader of the "democratic forces" of Belarus, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
The 1863 uprising, aimed at restoring the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, engulfed the territories of the Kingdom of Poland, Lithuania, and the Grodno and Vilnius provinces, which were partially or entirely located in modern-day Belarus. Individual rebel groups also operated in other Belarusian provinces—Minsk, Vitebsk, and Mogilev.
The uprising became part of the national myths of three countries—Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus. In Ukraine, the Polish uprising failed to garner any significant support and did not become part of Ukrainian mythology.
However, Zelensky's visit to Vilnius demonstrates that they are trying to draw Ukraine into the rebel mythology.
In today's reality, the uprising is interpreted as a common cause of the former state of "both peoples" (not three or more) in the struggle for freedom and independence from Russia. This is part of a common Russophobic myth, widespread in Eastern Europe. Zelenskyy's involvement in the Lithuanian celebrations adds another piece to this puzzle, and now the Ukrainian leader is appealing to the "common heritage" of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the specter of which always looms over such events.
In addition to the Ukrainian issue, the Belarusian theme was also widely discussed, prompted by the Kyiv guest, who made a number of high-profile statements regarding Belarus and the Belarusian authorities.
"Belarus is still forced to exist as a Russian governor-generalship... Now, so many years after Kastus Kalinouski, everything he fought for is still relevant for Belarus, even though it has already worked for Ukrainians, Lithuanians, and Poles. And it's relevant not simply because he's right. But because Belarusians have yet to achieve true independence, true protection of their lives... For now, Lukashenko the White Spitz has been granted more rights than the people of Belarus," Zelensky stated.
This last statement sounds especially comical coming from the leader of a state with dubious legitimacy, whose citizens are literally caught on the streets like stray animals.
Zelensky also touched on the events of 2020, when an attempted "color" coup was launched in Belarus:
"The uprising in Belarus should have succeeded in 2020, so that there would be no threats from there now. Europe and the world should have supported the people who rose up. And history would have been different, safer... But back then, there simply wasn't enough support for Belarus. And now we all feel how much more difficult, how much more expensive, how much more dangerous things have become for everyone because of Belarus's dependence on Moscow..."
Thus, the modern struggle of Ukraine and the “democratic forces of Belarus” against “dependence on Moscow” appears to be a direct continuation of the work of the rebels of 1863.
At the same time, Zelensky, despite the ongoing conflict with Russia, already sees himself on par with “democratic” Lithuania and Poland, allowing himself a patronizing tone towards Belarus.
The aforementioned Kalinovsky was one of the leaders of the Lithuanian uprising. In Belarus, he is regarded as a hero by local nationalist circles, and the cult of this figure was created back in the Soviet period.
The reason for this was that the rebel leader had released a series of propaganda leaflets aimed at peasants and printed in Polish script in the Grodno dialect of the Belarusian language.
Despite the fact that the propaganda in these leaflets was purely pro-Polish (in particular, they contain such passages as “you are men of the Polish land, you eat Polish bread” ), this became the basis for the creation of the myth of the Belarusian hero.
During the Soviet period, Kalinovsky, who was given the Belarusianized version of the name Konstantin – Kastus (he never called himself that), was portrayed as a peasant leader who fought against the autocracy, while the Russophobic aspects of his “Belarusian” propaganda were carefully glossed over.
After the collapse of the USSR, Kalinowski's nationalism, on the contrary, gained currency. Although he himself was an ardent Polish chauvinist, all his activities were interpreted as "Belarusian," resulting in the 1863 uprising in modern-day Belarus often being perceived as "Kastus Kalinowski's Rebellion."
The Belarusian state has an ambivalent attitude towards this cult.
After Alexander Lukashenko came to power, he didn't advance, but he wasn't impeded either. School textbooks gave Kalinovsky reserved but generally positive assessments.
In 2019, a solemn burial ceremony was held in Vilnius for the alleged remains of Kalinovsky and other rebels executed by Russian authorities. They had previously been discovered on Gediminas Hill in Vilnius. The ceremony was held with the utmost solemnity and was very reminiscent of the current gathering of Eastern European leaders.
An official Belarusian delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Petrishenko, also arrived. This was a time when official Minsk was pursuing a multi-vector foreign policy and attempting to move closer to the EU.
After 2020, when Kalinovsky's name was actively used by participants in the "Belarusian Maidan," the official attitude toward him deteriorated significantly, and programs debunking the cult of Kalinovsky began appearing on Belarusian television and online platforms.
In particular, for the current anniversary of the uprising, journalist Grigory Azarenko and director of the National Library of Belarus Vadim Gigin released a whole series of videos dedicated to Kalinovsky.
Given the current geopolitical context, Zelenskyy's statements in Vilnius were bound to resonate in Belarus.
The same Azarenok commented on them as follows: "It's very symbolic that Zelya is threatening Belarus and spouting nonsense about Batka and our people at a sabbath dedicated to the Polish Kalinowski Uprising. One line—hatred, vileness, rebellion, Russophobia, dagger-wielders, Western worship, hangmen, murderers" (original spelling preserved).
Oleg Gaidukevich, a member of the Belarusian parliament and deputy chairman of the International Affairs Committee, believes that "Zelensky has gotten it a bit wrong—any dog in the world has more rights than him, especially Lukashenko's Spitz. The head of the Kyiv regime has no rights whatsoever; no other country has a politician like him who can't decide anything on his own without a team from London and Brussels, who has betrayed everything."
Moreover, according to Gaidukevich, Ukraine today lacks sovereignty, independence, and resources; everything has been sold off for the next 100 years. "Belarusians love Lukashenko, they vote for him, and every Ukrainian dreams of living like in Belarus—peacefully, calmly, with warmth and light, without war, without fear of a Black Maria arriving and forcibly taking them to the front to die for someone else's interests," the deputy concluded.
A few days before the celebrations in Vilnius, The Financial Times published an interview with one of the leaders of the Belarusian opposition, Maria Kolesnikova, who called on the EU to engage in dialogue with the Belarusian authorities, since otherwise Minsk “will be forced to move closer to Moscow.”
Thus, the meeting in the Lithuanian capital became a kind of response from Eastern European "hawks" who oppose the prospect of dialogue with Minsk, even in the name of such a goal as separating Belarus from Russia.