Soviet dissident author dies

Bykov's books dealt with the horrors of war

Vasil Bykov, Belarus' most famous author, died on Sunday aged 79.

Mr Bykov, who had been suffering cancer for some time, had been living abroad because of his opposition to Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko.

He died in a hospital near the Belarussian capital Minsk, having recently returned to his native country.

He was one of the most honest authors, describing the dreadful, brutal truth about our war

Literary critic Benedikt Sarnov

Mr Bykov was one of the Soviet Union's most acclaimed writers, whose novels featured ordinary soldiers in World War II.

They included The Third Flare, Alpine Ballad and The Dead Have No Pain, which were all turned into films.

Some of his works were banned by Soviet authorities in the 1970s because they showed the horrors of warfare instead of Soviet heroism.

While some of his books became part of the Russian school curriculum, Mr Bykov's books were again banned in the last decade, this time by Mr Lukashenko.

The author was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature

The Belarussian president accused the author of being a traitor because he opposed the president's calls for the former Soviet republic to merge with Russia.

Mr Bykov supported Belarussian national identity and the country's language, which is disappearing as Russian takes over.

'Passionate struggle'

Mr Lukashenko nonetheless paid tribute to the author.

"We understood sovereignty and independence differently, but one cannot but respect this man's passionate struggle for Belarus' freedom and independence," he told Russia's Tass news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also paid his respects.

Mr Bykov's memoirs, The Long Road Home, were published earlier this year.

The author was also nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.

He spent several years living in Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic.