Elena was detained in a criminal case initiated due to protests and clashes between Pinsk residents and security forces on the night of August 9-10, 2020. She was convicted of participating in "mass riots." The victims in the case were 109 police officers and officials, who, in addition to imprisonment, demanded about 530 thousand rubles in compensation from the accused.
It is known that Elena is subjected to physical and psychological violence, she has been deprived of all parcels and meetings with loved ones. She regularly receives disciplinary punishments and is in a depressed psychological state. She has also been deprived of parental rights.
On February 12, 2025, with the help of the US State Department, Elena Movshuk , journalist Andrei Kuznechik and a US citizen whose name has not yet been disclosed were released. They were pardoned by Lukashenko. The condition for Elena's release was leaving Belarus. On the eve of her release, she was transferred from Colony No. 24 to the KGB pretrial detention center, from where the next day she was taken with a mask over her eyes to the border with Lithuania.
Details of the release were revealed to CNN by Chris Smith, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs.
"It was a special operation: we crossed the Belarusian border, met with government officials in Minsk, who handed over three detainees to us. We picked them up and took them through Lithuania."
Smith said it was a "unilateral gesture" by Belarusian authorities seeking to improve relations with the United States.
"Lukashenko received nothing in return," he noted.
