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According to pro-government telegram channels, four people were detained - they are called a "sleeper cell of extremists" who had "external connections" with Belarusian volunteers fighting in Ukraine. Among them is Dmitry.
All of them are from Gomel and, judging by their posts on social networks, have been friends for a long time, participating together in an international game of Beer Pong in Gomel. After the brutal detention , the friends were forced to record a “repentance video” and say that they created a chat where they corresponded with each other, and after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they allegedly insulted Lukashenko several times in correspondence, and also wrote “wrong” comments. Another accusation is that the guys “had external connections” with Belarusian volunteers who are fighting for Ukraine. Apparently, this was the basis for initiating a criminal case under the article “promoting extremist activities.”
On May 10, 2024, the appeal was considered and the verdict entered into force.
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Stanislav, an activist from Gomel, was detained on May 28, 2021, after security forces conducted a search in his apartment, where he lived with his parents. Prior to this, he had served three administrative arrests under Article 24.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus for participating in protests.
Stanislav was convicted under two criminal articles for participating in a chain at the Solidarity March, which took place on September 20, 2020 in Gomel. He refused to sign a petition for pardon and defended his rights even in difficult prison conditions, despite health problems. He was left without care for his underage daughter and elderly parents, his father is disabled.
He was released in December 2023, having fully served his sentence.
In December 2024, it became known that Stanislav was again detained in a new criminal case.
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Nikita was arrested and convicted of throwing a Molotov cocktail towards military personnel on August 10, 2020, according to investigators. The prosecution claimed that the bottles were hidden and given to him by Leonid Kovalev with an offer to set fire to a building, bus, or paddy wagon. Nikita refused to testify, did not admit guilt, and reported physical and psychological pressure in the pretrial detention center. At the time of his arrest, he was 16 years old and suffers from epilepsy.
In July 2021, he was convicted again under the article on "violence or threat of violence" for an incident with pretrial detention center employees. In June 2022, Nikita was transferred to an adult colony after turning 18, and in August of the same year, his punishment was toughened, sending him to prison.
In July 2024, the political prisoner was tried for “malicious disobedience to the prison administration,” a charge often applied to prisoners who refuse to cooperate with the administration.
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Dmitry was arrested and convicted of throwing a Molotov cocktail towards military personnel on August 10, 2020. According to investigators, the bottles were transported to the center of Gomel by Leonid Kovalev, who hid them and handed them over to Dmitry and Nikita Zolotorev that evening with an offer to set fire to a building, bus or paddy wagon. Dmitry partially admitted his guilt, explaining that he threw the cocktail in order to buy time and avoid detention.
In December 2021, he was transferred to prison regime for “malicious disobedience to the demands of the administration of the correctional institution.”
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Leonid was arrested and convicted for, according to investigators, making two Molotov cocktails, transporting them to the center of Gomel, and hiding them. On the evening of August 10, 2020, he allegedly found two perpetrators — Dmitry Korneev and Nikita Zolotorev — and handed them the bottles, offering to set fire to a building, a bus, or a paddy wagon. Leonid did not admit guilt.
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A member of the initiative group of presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was detained on September 27, 2020, in Gomel during a peaceful protest and accused of participating in "mass riots" and planning to "seize buildings."
In the winter of 2023, Dmitry was transferred to prison regime.
Vyacheslav was convicted by the Sovietsky District Court of Gomel under the article "organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them."
Due to the closed nature of the Belarusian judicial system, the circumstances of the case and the sentence are unknown. It is only known that he was sentenced to a prison term and is currently being held in prison.
It is most likely that the authorities repressed Vyacheslav for his participation in peaceful protests against the falsification of the presidential election results and the subsequent police violence against the protesters.
Vyacheslav is the brother of political prisoner Andrei Berestovy, who was also convicted of political offenses. He is currently serving a prison sentence.
On December 13, 2025, he was released following a visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole, and taken to Ukraine.
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Egor, an entrepreneur and showman, has organized and hosted numerous public events in Gomel. These include "The Best Graduation," the closing of the motorcycle season in Polesie, concerts by Elena Vaenga and Lev Leshchenko, and the Gomel City Day celebration.
He was detained in connection with a criminal case opened under the article "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them," and in the spring of 2024, he was convicted of participating in a post-election protest that took place in Gomel in 2020.
He was released in January 2026, having fully served his sentence.
Evgeny was detained in March 2023 and convicted under administrative article 19.11, part 2 (“distribution, production, storage, and transportation of information products containing calls for extremist activity”), after which a criminal case was opened against him.
In January 2024, he was found guilty of a number of criminal charges, including "organizing mass riots" and "inciting hostility or discord," and sentenced to imprisonment and a large fine.
On December 13, 2025, he was released following a visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole, and taken to Ukraine.
On 22.12.2023, an appeal hearing was held and the verdict came into force.
He was released, presumably , in the spring of 2024. Since in May the search party "Simuran " reported that on May 10 Alexander left home and disappeared. Volunteers specified that he may need medical assistance .
Since then, Vitukhnovsky has not been heard from. On social media, Flagstok journalists found his selfie from June 24, 2024, and a blurry photo of a man in uniform, similar to an infantryman, from the back from November 4, 2024. His name was found on the list of Belarusian citizens who joined the Russian army.
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Zhanna was arrested on May 11, 2023, right at School No. 63, where she had come to meet her child's teacher. In October of that year, she was convicted on several criminal charges, including "inciting hatred."
According to media reports, during the 2020 protests, police detained her on administrative charges.
According to human rights activists, Zhanna was expected to be released in the winter of 2026.
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A Gomel activist, organizer of travel, rafting, walking, was detained by a special purpose police detachment in his house on the morning of March 1, 2022.
Six members of the special purpose police unit participated in the arrest, who used physical force, laying Igor face to the floor.
Yevgeny, a former fan of FC Gomel, was arrested in July 2021 as part of a criminal case opened under the article "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or actively participating in them." Following a search of his apartment, he was additionally charged with "illegal trafficking of potent or toxic substances."
In December of that year, he was found guilty of creating a chat room in which, it was alleged, he "called for participation in mass riots, resistance to law enforcement, the use of violence, and the destruction or damage of property in a manner dangerous to the public." After the first court hearing, the Telegram channel was declared an extremist group, and Yevgeny was sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.
In April 2022, Evgeny was re-tried in a closed trial under the article "creation of an extremist group or participation in one" and again sentenced to imprisonment.
According to human rights activists, he was released in February 2025, having fully served his sentence.
Larisa was first arrested on September 27, 2020, and convicted of an administrative offense. After the trial, she suffered a seizure and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Larisa suffers from depressive anxiety disorder and claustrophobia.
On August 6, 2021, security forces came to her workplace, conducted a search, and after interrogation, placed her in a temporary detention facility for three days. After this period, she was charged with violence or threat of violence against police officers for participating in a Sunday march on September 27, 2020, in Gomel, during which security forces used tear gas and stun grenades. According to the prosecution, Larisa "used brute force to grab a security officer by the arm, move him, and thereby obstruct his work."
In December 2021, Larisa was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.
She was released in May 2023, having fully served her sentence as imposed by the court.
Artur was convicted of creating and installing an installation featuring a portrait of Lukashenko and the inscription "Burn in Hell" in a vacant lot in November 2020, posting a photo of it in a Telegram chat, and discussing protest activity in the spring of 2021 in another chat, which investigators deemed inciting social hatred.
In the fall of 2024, he was released, having fully served his sentence imposed by the court.