Dymna Lotva unleash a fierce battle cry for freedom with their new non-album track ‘Live!’ (Жыві!) and the accompanying video. The duo was first forced to flee their native homeland Belarus from political persecution by the dictator Lukashenka. Shortly afterwards vocalist Nokt Aeon also had to leave her Ukrainian exile when the Russian bombs began to fall with Putin’s continuing invasion.
This track and video are a tribute to those brave men and women risking their lives in the fight for freedom. In the words of the band: “This is a song for our homeland and those who are ready to defend her and fight for her freedom”, Dymna Lotva write. “Now they are defending her honor by helping Ukraine fight against the invaders.”
The first half of the video includes a solemn oath sworn by the Kastus Kalinoŭski Regiment, which is a military formation within the Armed Forces of Ukraine that consists of Belarusian volunteers.
The video ‘Live!’ (Жыві!) is now streaming at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdiCD8yQcZw&ab_channel=ProphecyProductions
Video Credits & Information / Video by Dymna Lotva / Music by Yauheni Charkasau / Lyrics by Katsiaryna Mankevich / Solemn vow by The Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment / Mixing & Mastering by Yauheni Charkasau
The Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment (until May 21, 2022 under the name the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Battalion) is a military formation consisting of Belarusian volunteers within the Armed Forces of Ukraine that has been created in March 2022 to defend Ukraine from the Russian invasion.
The Regiment took its name in honor of Kastus Kalinoŭski, the head of the national liberation uprising of 1863-1864 in the Belarusian-Lithuanian lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian domination. He is seen by many of his compatriots as a national hero of Belarus.
On June 26, 2022, the regiment suffered tragic losses in the heavy fighting around the Lisichansk area. Commander Ivan ‘Brest’ Marchuk, who is reading the oath in the video was killed, several fighters went missing, and at least two Belarusians were captured. Both Sergei ‘Klesch’ Dziogceu and Jan ‘Trombley’ Dziurbejko remain in Russian captivity, which is well documented to severely breach international law.
The mission statement of the Kalinoŭski Regiment is: “Liberation of Belarus through the liberation of Ukraine.”
More about the Kalinŭuski Regiment: https://kalinouski.org/en/about
In the video Nokt Aeon is wearing a bracelet with the white-red-white colours that Trombley, one of the captured soldiers, had made for her. These colours appear throughout the video and represent the historical flag first used by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918. They are now employed by the resistance against the Lukashenka regime, which is allied and subservient to Putin’s Russia. The video also features the ‘Pahonia’, which is another symbol used by the Belarus opposition. The ‘Pahonia’ emblem features a knight on a prancing horse, and it was originally used by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This emblem in the colours red and white became the official Coat of Arms of Belarus from 1991 to 1995, until the dictator had it replaced with a Soviet style image through a fake ‘referendum’ alongside the flag.
Former soldiers of the Kalinoŭski Regiment participated in the creation of the video.