Ivan Uss, the son of former Belarusian presidential candidate Dmitry Uss, was killed on the Ukrainian front while fighting for Russia, reported the independent Belarusian publication Nasha Niva, cited by Kyiv Independent.
He reportedly signed a contract with the Russian army on January 17, but died just a few weeks after beginning military service, the cited source writes. In the mid-2010s, Ivan Uss was the administrator of the pro-Russian group “Antimaidan Minsk” on the Russian social network VKontakte. In 2020, he joined protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and was sentenced to 15 days in prison for participating in a demonstration, Nasha Niva reported.
His father, Dmitry Uss, was a businessman and the owner of a cartography company. Ivan worked there as well. In 2010, Dmitry ran for the presidency of Belarus, receiving less than 0.4% of the votes. After the election, he was arrested and sentenced to five and a half years in prison for organizing mass riots, but was pardoned and released five months later, the cited source also notes. Belarus remains one of Russia’s closest allies in the war against Ukraine. Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion, Russian authorities have reportedly been recruiting Belarusian citizens through recruitment commissions operating in Belarus.
At least 314 Belarusian citizens have been killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, according to a report published on October 13 by the Ukrainian project “I Want to Live”. Recruits from Belarus are declared dead on average about 6.5 months after signing contracts with the Russian army. Most of the deceased served in the 150th Motorized Infantry Division, and a significant number of them were reportedly recruited from Russian prisons.