Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Yesterday our team was discussing last week's visits to Poland and Ukraine. Our delegation talked about the meetings they had and the attitude toward Belarusians. I asked them to write down one of their stories, because I really want you to read it too:
"We were going to Kyiv by train from Lviv, but we couldn't buy a ticket at the ticket office. At first they were saying that the train hadn't arrived yet and the tickets were unavailable. Then, that they didn't know whether the train was even going to Kyiv. So we just boarded the train and waited for the check taker to come.
For 6 tickets, the check taker charged 50 euros. Then he realized he had to check our passports. When he found out that we were Belarusians, the check taker politely warned us that he would bring a policeman to check our documents. And he left to come back with a policeman and the train master.
In the same polite manner, the policeman asked us who we were and why we were going to Kyiv. He was more than satisfied when we answered that we oppose Lukashenko, support Ukraine, and want to express solidarity, and explained that we are heading to meetings in the Verkhovna Rada and with Belarusians who volunteer for Ukraine or defend Kiev with lethal force.
After this, the train master looked at his colleague who had sold us the tickets, and took him aside. After a minute's conversation, they called us over to return us the 50 euros and offer to move to an empty first class carriage.
We started to thank them, but they just waved and said: "Belarusians are our brothers".
I know that Belarusians in Ukraine face a lot of problems because of their passports. I have been hearing about this both in Polish refugee centers and at online meetings with Belarusians in Ukraine. But we have to help each other to overcome this terrible time in our history. We are Belarusians. And we are the brotherly nations of Belarus and Ukraine.
