The city of Malaryta in the Brest region, home to more than 12,000 inhabitants, is the furthest regional center from the Belarusian capital. But the border with Ukraine is very close here: along the road the distance is about 17 kilometers, writes Deutsche Welle.
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However, the Malaryta district checkpoint is now closed, as well as the railway line to the Ukrainian Kovel. It turns out that trains and cars will not resume their flow across the border for a long time.
What is in the border area between Belarus and Ukraine?
Malaryta residents admit that the border and the prestige of transit have had a noticeable effect on the life of the city and nearby villages. “We don’t have giant companies, so for many residents, the profit opportunities were border-related. “Some were transporting other people to Ukraine and back, some had roadside cafes and most were only engaged in trade : there were enough goods that could be bought to save money or resold for profit,” says Halina, a local businesswoman.
According to the woman, before the coronavirus pandemic she shopped at least twice a week, either at the nearest Ukrainian regional center, Ratno, or at the border station, Zabolottya. And if Belarusians were attracted to the neighboring territory through the option of making economic purchases, then the population of the border villages of Ukraine came to Malaryta or Brest also in search of employment.
Natallia, an instructor from Malaryta, recalls that until recently, cross-border links were actively supported on a casual level.
“The neighboring Ukrainian regional center Ratno was twinned with Malaryta, and visitors met in the executive committee of the local district, but I usually do not forget the joint vacation in the park of the impartial zone,” says Natallia.
Road blockades and mines gave the impression on the border
As the Malaryta resident, who had recently been involved in the border service, explains on condition of anonymity, mobile border crossings in the direction of Ukraine began to appear in 2020. “One of them opened at the end of 2021 in Malaryta district. , explaining that it is mandatory to combat illegal immigration, drug trafficking and other crimes that are committed at the border,” the source said.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Belarusian government’s rhetoric about the scenario in the border domain began to change. At the end of June 2022, Vadzim Dzenisenka, commander of the special operations forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, who visited the Malaryta district, admitted that now not only cellular border posts are provided with them: checkpoints and even “explosive mine fences” have appeared.
In turn, the Ukrainian also declares that the territory of the Volhynia region, which borders Belarus, is now mined. Citizens are asked to be careful when visiting forests and driving on roads, paying attention to the symptoms “Danger – mines!”. As he explained through the command of the local territorial defense brigade, such measures were taken due to the persistent risk of invasion from the territory of Belarus.
In Malaysia itself, many other people are reluctant to blatantly express their attitude to the existing scenario in Ukraine. One of those who was not afraid to do so was a local activist, Lyudmila Ramanovich, who in early March 2022 sent a letter to the Lukashenko administration’s website. The woman expressed her negative attitude towards the war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine and protested against the possible participation of Belarus in those actions, not easy the withdrawal of Russian troops from the country.
Soon, Lyudmila Ramanovich arrested: a search conducted on her home, and on June 20, the court sentenced the activist to one year and part in a crime for “insulting Lukashenko” (the word “usurper” is allegedly mentioned in the letter). At the end of July, the Brest High Court, after examining the complaint of a Malaryta resident, issued the verdict.
Local citizens speak favorably about the act of Lyudmila Ramanovich, who is known to many in the city. However, they admit to being discouraged by the reaction of the authorities.
“Lyudmila is a brave woman, she has been in the opposition for a long time, and yet she punishes a user for her opinion in such a wayArray. . . People are afraid: after all, it turns out that until recently they were spending a holiday in the unbiased area in the park with the Ukrainians, and now there are mines on the border, and it is an explicit dissatisfaction,” says businesswoman Halina.