Polish mayor honours Belarusian who got bus out of snow
- Published
Polish TVN reporter Pawel Lukasik joined the Belarusian to push the bus out of the snow
A Belarusian man has been honoured with a free travel pass in Warsaw, for coming to the rescue of a bus stuck in Poland's snow-hit capital.
Journalist Pawel Lukasik was reporting live for private channel TVN24 on a traffic jam caused by a bus, when Dmitry Salogub strode up to the bus and began to push it.
The journalist, microphone still in hand, joined in.
They got the bus moving and the journalist praised him for his effort.
Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski has now commended the Belarusian migrant for helping in a "difficult situation".
As the TVN reporter approached Mr Salogub at the back of the bus, he asked him: "Are you rushing to get home?"
"I don't speak Polish," the migrant replied in Polish before switching to Belarusian, which Poles can partially understand. When asked where he was from, he said: "Belarus. Let's do it together." Once the bus had begun to move he left before the Polish TV reporter could ask his name.
Mr Salogub (L) later said he did not think he had done anything out of the ordinary
The video was then shared online and the 28-year-old was identified by Belarusian journalists. He told Belarusian media he had no idea he was on air while pushing the bus. He had been stuck on a bus a kilometre (0.6 miles) further back and had decided to find out what was holding up the traffic.
'Instead of helping, people make videos'
Mr Salogub said he had done nothing special and was surprised nobody else had tried to help earlier.
"In our world, instead of helping, people make videos of everything. I don't understand it," he told Belsat TV.
Mr Salogub, who is studying and working in Warsaw, has said he has no plans to return to Belarus because of his opposition to the country's long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko.
Mr Lukasik's report, meanwhile, was widely shared on Polish media and went viral on social media. There was praise for the journalist too for capturing the story and lending the Belarusian a hand.
"I respect real engaged journalism," tweeted journalist Pawel Biedrzycki.
Others pointed out that everyone else sat in their cars and waited. "We need such immigrants in Poland. People selflessly wanting to help," said journalist Pawel Jaskiewicz.
Some saw the story as a symbol of the tenacity of Belarusian protesters who have taken to the streets to challenge the widely disputed presidential election victory claimed by Mr Lukashenko last August.
Meanwhile, Mr Salogub insists he is no hero. "It just happened this way. You should always be human and think of others. Then the world can change for the better," he said.
As well as a 90-day travel pass from the Warsaw mayor, he's been offered a free course in Polish by a Warsaw language school, and plans to start shortly.
More on the protests in Belarus:
Three months on from the Belarus election, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya reflects on how her life has changed (first published November 2020)