Konstanty (Kastus) Kalinovsky was one of the leaders of the Polish, Lithuanian, and Belarusian national revival in the second half of the 19th century. Kalinovsky is especially revered in Belarus where he is seen as an icon of Belarusian nationalism who fought against the Russian Empire.
The Kastus Kalinovsky Battalion was formed in March 2022 from members of the so-called “Belarus” tactical group, members of the Belarusian neo-Nazi organization [White Legion](https://warriors.fandom.com/ru/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD_(%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%8C)), representatives of the Young Front movement, as well as Belarusian citizens who emigrated to Ukraine after the protests in the summer and autumn of 2020. As of mid-March, the Battalion included about 200 people.
The Battalion’s official video clearly [shows](https://twitter.com/Alx_lazarev/status/1503287680221822976) the neo-Nazi tattoos of its members—the Black Sun tattoo on the elbow. The man on the right is the Belarussian neo-Nazi Denis “Kit”. The man with the beard on the left is the well-known neo-Nazi Rodion Batulin, a Latvian with Belarusian citizenship who came to Ukraine to implement his ideas. In the summer of 2019, he was noted for his participation in the attack on former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Batulin is a close friend of another famous neo-Nazi who was originally from Russia, but who lived in Belarus for a long time: Sergei “Boatsman” Korotkikh.
So far, three people from the Battalion are known to have been killed. All three were connected to far-right groups and all three were killed in action near Kyiv.
On 3 March, 27-year-old Ilya Khrenov (whose military call sign was [Litvin](https://img.zerkalo.io/720x720s/0a/10/ilya_litvin_3.jpeg)) was killed in the battle for Bucha. He came to Ukraine in 2014, fought in the Donbas in the ranks of the far-right Azov Battalion for more than a year, then settled in Kyiv and worked in IT. Litvin was a member of White Legion and was also an outspoken neo-Nazi with far-right tattoos on his body, including a Valknut tattoo on his left arm.
On 13 March, 31-year-old Oleksiy Skoblya (call sign: Tur) was killed near Kyiv. Tur had also been fighting for Ukraine since 2015. He [joined](https://udf.name/news/main_news/136269-belorusskiy-boec-pravogo-sektora-seychas-maydan-belarusi-ne-nuzhen.html) the far-right paramilitary group Right Sector. For the last year he had been serving in Ukraine’s special operations forces on a contract basis. His relatives say he became interested in Viking culture at the True Varing Reenactors Club. He also wore Thor’s Hammer pendants, which are popular with neo-Nazis.
On 24 March, 32-year-old Dmitry Apanosovich (call sign: Terror) was killed by a mine near Irpen. It is not entirely known whether Terror was a neo-Nazi, as the Russian media [claim](https://regnum.ru/news/polit/3546027.html), but his relatives say that he “went to [Valhalla](https://mostmedia.io/2022/03/31/pogibshij-belarusskij-dobrovolec/) since he was a [pagan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6yjbfsLi-g)”.
The number of troops in the Battalion is unknown. More than 100 people were seen at Ilya Khrenov’s funeral.
