Belarusians say Russian soldiers are selling items looted from Ukraine

Residents of the Belarusian border with Ukraine say that Russian soldiers passing through are disturbing the peace and trying to flog what they’ve looted to locals, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

One man in the town of Mazyr said the skies are constantly filled with Russian planes and helicopters as troops passed through.

“They take the ‘trophies’ looted from Ukraine and offer to sell them to locals. Refrigerators, household appliances, tires, and whatever comes to hand,” said the man, who asked only to use his first name, Ilya.

Another Mazyr resident said that Russian soldiers staying in town were harassing locals and crowding the town’s bars and stores.

“They also stink a lot. You can tell by the smell when you go to the store that they are here. After all, I don’t think they bathe,” said Maksim, who also asked to only use his first name.

“The commanders live in normal conditions…. Soldiers live in the woods, in tents and even in barns.”

“The Russians, they behave like they’re masters of the universe,” he added.

Belarus has been used as a staging ground of sorts by the forces of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Traffic through the border has increased as they pull back from Kyiv last week as announced.

Belarusians in the area have reported that the area’s morgues have been overflowing with the corpses of dead Russian soldiers, while the wounded have filled local hospitals.

“The field hospital is guarded from the outside by Russian soldiers to ensure that no one takes photographs,” said one resident of Narovlya, south of Mazyr, who asked to remain nameless.

“There are lots of helicopters flying very low there. Many of them are circling over [the town].”

Another anonymous Norovlya resident said soldiers were buying up all the alcohol in stores.

“Once, a Russian [soldier] grabbed vodka and wine, and then his [bank] card didn’t work. So he went and put everything back,” the person told RFE/RL.

“But mostly they just buy everything. And take a lot of vodka.”