Olga Sitnik is a housewife from Minsk who is raising three minor children. Since 2009, she has been writing on Wikipedia about Belarusian traditional culture and nature, as well as on topics such as breastfeeding. More than two dozen of her articles have been awarded the status of "good" or "excellent". Since 2010, she has been the administrator of the Belarusian Wikipedia. Olga Sitnik has made hundreds of thousands of edits to Wikipedia and created thousands of articles for it.
She was arrested in May 2025. The nature of the charges is unknown, but it appears that Sitnik is involved in a criminal case with other Belarusian Wikipedia administrators who are now behind bars.
She holds Russian citizenship. She was detained onApril 23 , 2025, and her home was searched the same day.She was detained inconnection witha criminalcaseinvolving messages posted to the "BelarusianGayun " bot .
Yaroslava is originally from Rogachev. At some point, she moved to Mozyr, likely right after graduating from university.
In recent years, she worked as a teacher in a village school. She taught German at the Moiseevskaya Basic School in the small agricultural town of the same name. She also served as a teacher organizer.
Trial outcome 09.09.2025
3 years of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions.
Appeal 04.11.2025
unknown.
After the sentence comes into effect, it is only possible to write letters to a prisoner. According to article 85 of the Penal Enforcement Code, prisoners cannot receive money transfers from persons who are not family members. Parcels are also only possible from relatives. If you want to help, help families directly, if this option is available on the prisoner's card.
unknown years of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions.
After the sentence comes into effect, it is only possible to write letters to a prisoner. According to article 85 of the Penal Enforcement Code, prisoners cannot receive money transfers from persons who are not family members. Parcels are also only possible from relatives. If you want to help, help families directly, if this option is available on the prisoner's card.
Margarita, Tina Palynskaya's eldest daughter, was detained along with her mother at the end of May 2025. Both are in custody on criminal charges.
The details of the charges have not been officially disclosed. Based on circumstantial evidence, there is an assumption that the case may be connected with the KGB's decision to recognize the "Belarusian Analytical Workshop" of Professor Andrei Vardomatsky as an extremist organization. This organization conducted sociological surveys among Belarusian citizens. At the moment, there is no confirmation that Tina or her daughter actually participated in the BAM research. But even if such participation had taken place, it would not have violated the law: at the time of possible contact with the workshop, it had not yet been recognized as an extremist organization.
Journalist, Catholic believer from Polotsk. Tina has not been involved in journalism for a long time, raised two daughters, worked in archives, including Russian ones, fulfilling private orders to create biographical essays, family books, stories about participants in World War II.
Earlier, in 2022, the journalist was tried under an administrative article and subjected to a large fine for yellow and blue ribbons on her bag, and the Investigative Committee conducted an investigation into her Facebook post and searched the journalist's home.
Since the end of May 2025, she has been out of contact. Tina and her eldest daughter Margarita, 22, are in custody on a criminal case. Tina also has a younger minor daughter, she is 14 years old.
The details of the charges have not been officially disclosed. Based on circumstantial evidence, there is an assumption that the case may be connected with the KGB's decision to recognize the "Belarusian Analytical Workshop" of Professor Andrei Vardomatsky as an extremist organization. This organization conducted sociological surveys among Belarusian citizens. At the moment, there is no confirmation that Tina or her daughter actually participated in the BAM research. But even if such participation had taken place, it would not have violated the law: at the time of possible contact with the workshop, it had not yet been recognized as an extremist organization.
3 years of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions.
Appeal 11.09.2025
the sentence was upheld.
After the sentence comes into effect, it is only possible to write letters to a prisoner. According to article 85 of the Penal Enforcement Code, prisoners cannot receive money transfers from persons who are not family members. Parcels are also only possible from relatives. If you want to help, help families directly, if this option is available on the prisoner's card.
Detained in early May 2025 in the "Gayun case" - for transmitting data to the "Belarusian Gayun" telegram channel about the movement of military equipment.
Trial outcome 20.11.2025
3 years of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions.
After the sentence comes into effect, it is only possible to write letters to a prisoner. According to article 85 of the Penal Enforcement Code, prisoners cannot receive money transfers from persons who are not family members. Parcels are also only possible from relatives. If you want to help, help families directly, if this option is available on the prisoner's card.
Karina Fasevich is 29 years old. She works as a manicurist. Karina has a minor son.
Trial outcome 17.03.2025
unknown years of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions.
After the sentence comes into effect, it is only possible to write letters to a prisoner. According to article 85 of the Penal Enforcement Code, prisoners cannot receive money transfers from persons who are not family members. Parcels are also only possible from relatives. If you want to help, help families directly, if this option is available on the prisoner's card.
After the sentence comes into effect, it is only possible to write letters to a prisoner. According to article 85 of the Penal Enforcement Code, prisoners cannot receive money transfers from persons who are not family members. Parcels are also only possible from relatives. If you want to help, help families directly, if this option is available on the prisoner's card.
When in June 2024 the KGB of Belarus declared the Media IQ project an extremist group, it named Pitkevich among its participants. Around the same time, Polina's accounts were last online.
Polina Pitkevich was born in 1994. She graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of the Belarusian State University (2016). She was fond of theater and for some time played as an actress in the Laboratory of Social Theater in Minsk. As a journalist, she wrote on cultural topics. Polina is also known for her love of animals - on her social media pages, you can find many ads about helping homeless tailed ones. According to friends, Polina had more than one rescued cat living in her house.
Trial outcome 07.03.2025
3 years of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions.
Appeal date unknown
unknown.
After the sentence comes into effect, it is only possible to write letters to a prisoner. According to article 85 of the Penal Enforcement Code, prisoners cannot receive money transfers from persons who are not family members. Parcels are also only possible from relatives. If you want to help, help families directly, if this option is available on the prisoner's card.
Mozyr activist and blogger Polina Zyl. As Nasha Niva learned, the girl was charged with participating in protests and being involved in an "extremist group." She is awaiting trial in a pretrial detention center.
Her boyfriend Maksim Shukanov was arrested along with her. There was no information about his release, most likely he is also in the pretrial detention center.
Polina is 31 years old. She is originally from Yelsk, studied in Mozyr. In 2020, the girl supported the protests, even got arrested for a day. Then Polina went into hiding, but remained in the country. Both Zyl and Shukanov were wanted, but did not want to leave Belarus.
Trial outcome date unknown
1 year of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions.
Appeal date unknown
unknown.
After the sentence comes into effect, it is only possible to write letters to a prisoner. According to article 85 of the Penal Enforcement Code, prisoners cannot receive money transfers from persons who are not family members. Parcels are also only possible from relatives. If you want to help, help families directly, if this option is available on the prisoner's card.
2 years 6 months of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions, 800 basic values fine.
After the sentence comes into effect, it is only possible to write letters to a prisoner. According to article 85 of the Penal Enforcement Code, prisoners cannot receive money transfers from persons who are not family members. Parcels are also only possible from relatives. If you want to help, help families directly, if this option is available on the prisoner's card.
2 years 6 months of imprisonment in colony under general regime conditions, 800 basic values fine.
After the sentence comes into effect, it is only possible to write letters to a prisoner. According to article 85 of the Penal Enforcement Code, prisoners cannot receive money transfers from persons who are not family members. Parcels are also only possible from relatives. If you want to help, help families directly, if this option is available on the prisoner's card.
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