Updated at 17:53,27-03-2024

Alleged Right Sector fighter on trial in Minsk

RFE/RL

A Belarusian national accused of fighting alongside Ukraine's radical organization Right Sector went on trial in Minsk on April 18.

Taras Avatarau, a resident of the Belarusian eastern city of Navapolatsk, has been charged with trafficking weapons and explosive devices.

Avatarau was detained in November on his arrival by train from Ukraine to Minsk. Investigators confiscated a pistol and an explosive device from him.

According to the investigators, Avatarau has fought as a volunteer alongside Right Sector members against Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

Right Sector played a key role in street protests in Kyiv that toppled former Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.

The group has been banned in Russia as terrorist.