Ruslan Ausianik

Since 2020, Elena has been subjected to systematic politically motivated persecution: she has been detained and arrested 17 times under administrative law and fined a total of 173 basic units. Her home has been searched repeatedly.

In May 2021, Elena was convicted of "participating in group actions grossly violating public order" in a criminal case opened following a protest on September 13, 2020, in Brest, where participants were singing songs and dancing in circles when a water cannon was used against them. According to the prosecution, the protest disrupted public transportation. She was sentenced to restricted freedom without being sent to a correctional facility.

In September of that year, Elena was convicted again for "insulting Lukashenko." The combined sentence amounted to three years of house arrest.

In January 2022, she was arrested for "violating a sentence" and sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest. However, she was never released—she was transferred to a pretrial detention center as part of a new criminal case opened for slandering Lukashenko and discrediting the Republic of Belarus. In June, she was sentenced to imprisonment and a large fine.

In April 2023, Elena was convicted again under the article "malicious disobedience of the demands of the prison administration." This article is often applied to prisoners who refuse to cooperate with the administration, for fictitious violations.

It is known that Elena is constantly subjected to physical and psychological pressure. She is regularly placed in solitary confinement and isolation cells, deprived of almost all packages, phone calls, and visits, and her grocery allowance has been reduced from three basic units to one.

In February 2025, Polina Sharendo-Panasyuk reported that Elena had been placed back in the punishment cell : "After several weeks in solitary confinement, she was transferred to the punishment cell. There's a 99% chance they'll trumped up Article 411 against her again."

On December 13, 2025, she was released after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole, and taken to Ukraine.

Victoria, the administrator of the "Drivers 97%" channel, was detained on November 4, 2020, in Minsk by GUBOPiK officers and convicted of "calling for mass riots and roadblocks due to dissatisfaction with the government and election fraud."

In 2022 and 2023, the court twice increased her sentence, accusing her of "malicious disobedience to the demands of the correctional facility administration." Victoria had repeatedly been subjected to pressure in the penal colony and was deemed a "malicious violator."

In October 2024, in the Rechitsa District Court, Victoria was convicted for the third time under the article "malicious disobedience to the lawful demands of the penal colony administration" and sentenced to another year of imprisonment.

In early 2025, Polina Sharendo-Panasyuk reported that Victoria and Elena Gnauk had been placed in a punishment cell: "After several weeks in solitary confinement, they were transferred to a punishment cell. There's a 99% chance they'll be charged again under Article 411."

Polina also added: "Viktoria Kulsha's kidneys have probably already failed. She went on hunger strikes for months, refusing water and drink. She slit her wrists. They threw her in solitary confinement for this—she slit her wrists in solitary confinement. She went on hunger strikes in the PKT. She refused medical attention."

Victoria was scheduled to be released in April 2025 upon completion of her sentence. However, at the beginning of the month, she was transferred to Gomel Pretrial Detention Center No. 3 as part of a fourth criminal case under the article "malicious disobedience of the legal demands of the prison administration." In June of that year, her sentence was extended by another year.

On December 13, 2025, she was released following a visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole, and taken to Ukraine.