Design engineer at Naftan, is deputy head of the independent trade union of Naftan workers. He was detained on September 27, 2021 at his workplace. In the Novopolotsk GAUS, a protocol was drawn up against the man under art. 19.11 Code of Administrative Offenses (distribution of information products containing calls for extremist activities or promoting such activities). The offense, according to the police, is that on his Instagram page “Alexander distributed an information product included in the republican list of extremist materials.” A screenshot of the publication was attached to the written materials of the case, in which a man stands with a poster “I/we are TUT.by.”
Alexander’s case was reviewed on October 1 by Novopolotsk district judge Zinaida Balabolova. Balonkin did not admit his guilt at the trial and tried to find out how the police discovered that this was his Instagram page. According to Alexander, he does not have a personal page, so he does not know who owns the publication. Despite this, Judge Balabolova arrested the man for 15 days precisely because of the “extremist” logo in the photo on Instagram.
In August 2023, he was detained along with other members of the independent trade union "Naftan": Olga Britikova and Alexander Kukharenok.
