Eduard Lobau's Mother: Her Son's Bank Account Lost In Ukraine

The Belarusian volunteer’s mother still can not take his documents.

In Warsaw on October 28, an event was held in memory of volunteer Eduard Lobau and other Belarusian soldiers who died in the war in Ukraine.

At an event organized by Natallia Radzina, the Editor-in-Chief of Charter97.org, deceased volunteer’s mother Maryna Lobova said that she still had not received Eduard’s documents, and the account in the Ukrainian bank into which he received his salary during his service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine had disappeared.

Journalists of Charter97.org asked Maryna if anything had changed since then:

– There have been some changes, but not all the issues are solved. Regarding the documents, I called the military unit personally, and the head of the financial service, Jan Hrys, helped me. The documents seem to have already been sent to the military registration and enlistment office, although I don’t know if they arrived, they haven’t received them yet.

Everyone was helpful in the 72nd Brigade, in which Edzik served. But there was Yulia Haidukevich, who said that she was responsible for the 200s [killed soldiers, military slang - Ed.]. This is how she called the fallen heroes of Ukraine, contract soldiers, “contriks” as she said, and she used slang all the time. I think that this sounds insulting to the relatives of the victims. He was my son, a living person, a hero who gave his life for Ukraine, and not the 200s, as she calls him.

She took over the powers of the Ukrainian MoD and decided that I “wasn’t supposed to receive documents and compensation in general.” Haidukevich also refused me compensation, although I did not write anything to the 72nd Brigade on this issue, this is decided by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

Haidukevich explained that I am “not supposed to receive documents”, since I was “a citizen of Belarus”. So, she said that she would not send me my son’s documents. The result was discrimination based on nationality. In Ukraine, there are no restrictions that the relatives of deceased Belarusians must not take these documents.

But we have already resolved these problems with the head of the financial service, in any case, they told me that the documents had been sent. I hope they’ve sent everything I need.

– Did you manage to achieve anything in the matter with Eduard’s bank account?

– After the presentation of the film, an employee of the Ukrainian Embassy, Roman Shepelyak, contacted me. I sent him documents that confirm that my son served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and made payments to the Privatbank account. Roman promised that he would send these documents to Kyiv so that they could do something there, and look for this account. But, unfortunately, more than a month has already passed since then, and there are no results, just silence.

I went to Khmelnytskyi to the notary and provided these documents with transaction evidence so that he would submit another request to the bank. The first time they applied, they were generally told that “there is no account and there cannot be”. But I know that there were payments to Privatbank.

– Do other relatives of soldiers have similar problems?

– Yes, I heard about it. I read online that some unit commanders transferred money to their accounts. However, I’ve never heard about lost bank accounts.

– Is there any progress with awarding Eduard the title of Hero of Ukraine?

– It’s in progress in Ukraine, I also signed an agreement with the organization of Belarusians in Germany, the Freedom for Belarus gUG, which, I hope, will help me in this matter. We are collecting signatures for the petition.

The head of the Belarusian Crisis Center in Lviv, Aliaksei Frantskevich, sent a request to the 72nd brigade so that they make a petition on their part because without this petition the title of Hero of Ukraine cannot be awarded. The process is ongoing, but it is unknown how it will end.

I would like to express my gratitude to the 8th Special Operations Forces Regiment, where my Edzik previously served. They actually remember him and helped me a lot. A memorial sign was installed in Khmelnytskyi, and thanks to the fact that they submitted a request to the Khmelnytskyi City Council, my Edzik was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen.

I would also like to thank the Khmelnytskyi City Military Commissariat. There Edzik actually was drafted. They helped me to obtain documents and wrote appeals to the 72nd Brigade.

Summary

Belarusian volunteer Eduard Lobau died on January 26, 2023, defending Vuhledar. He served in the ranks of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade and participated in the liberation of the Kyiv region and Chornobyl from Russian occupiers.

Eduard Lobau is a former political prisoner. He was detained on December 18, 2010, together with the leader of the Young Front, Dzmitry Dashkevich, and then illegally sentenced to four years in high-security prison. Edгard served his entire sentence in the Wolf Holes penal colony.

Eduard Lobau had been fighting in Ukraine since 2015.

In 2014, the website Charter97.org announced him as a laureate of the Viktor Ivashkevich National Human Rights Award.