Pavel Shurmei voiced Kalinouski Regiment's questions regarding the 'Volia' special company

Shurmei emphasizes that Belarusian servicemen already fighting in Ukraine do not oppose the emergence of new units and consider competition useful. However, in his opinion, it must take place under transparent and understandable conditions for everyone. Therefore, he asks Yaroslav Chornohor five questions.

The first question concerns who and at what level made the decision to create the new Belarusian UAV special company: whether this decision is systemic in nature and whether it was made at the level of Ukraine's political and military leadership.

If it's just an experiment, then by what criteria will its success be determined, and can the results affect the attitude towards other Belarusian volunteers?

The second question concerns the principles of selecting the people entrusted with leading the new company.

Shurmei wonders why this task was not entrusted to Belarusians with extensive combat experience, including in the field of UAVs. According to him, many Belarusian servicemen today have practical experience in combat operations, planning, and command.

At the same time, Mikita Zabuga was appointed acting commander of the new special company, which claims elite status – a person who, as stated in the appeal, had just over a month of experience working as a logistics specialist for a UAV company. In this regard, Pavel Shurmei wants to know if military education, modern war experience, organizational skills, or reputation among servicemen were the basis for such an appointment.

The third question is related to the statement that Belarusians will finally start receiving officer positions.

Will this mean official appointment to officer positions with corresponding rights, duties, and legal responsibilities, or will Belarusians continue to be formally considered soldiers or snipers while effectively performing officer functions, Shurmei asks. He states that this discrepancy between formal and actual status is very common in Belarusian units, both previously and now. If the situation is now changing and official appointment of Belarusians to officer positions is planned, how will this procedure look, by what criteria will it be carried out, and will it extend to other units?

The fourth question concerns statements about starting work with long-range and medium-range strike drones.

Pavel Shurmei refers to the experience of Belarusian UAV specialists serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and states that high-quality training of technical personnel takes at least six months. For full control of operational-level UAVs, according to him, not only training but also at least two years of general combat experience are required. He notes that there are few Belarusians with such a level of competence and asks who will train the personnel of the new company and ensure its preparation so that it is elite not only in name.

The fifth question is related to the problems of legalizing Belarusian volunteers.

In connection with the creation of the new company, it was stated that an increase in the number of Belarusians in the army could help solve problems with legalization, document issuance, recovery of lost passports, payments, training, and other issues. The author of the appeal questions the expediency of such an approach, as, according to him, the problems of Belarusian volunteers who have been fighting since 2022 are still being resolved very slowly or remain unresolved.

As a result, Pavel Shurmei raises the question of what should come first: the creation of necessary legal conditions for the emergence of new Belarusian and other units, or the creation of new units with the expectation that this will push the state towards legislative changes in the future. The author notes that the necessary changes have not occurred for more than four years.

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