Popular Belarusian blogger and creator of the YouTube channel "Country for Life" Sergei expressed a desire to run for president. However, before the start of the election campaign, he was arrested for organizing an unauthorized event. His wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, submitted documents to the Central Election Commission by proxy, but Sergei was not registered as a candidate due to the lack of his signature. Subsequently, Svetlana herself was registered as a candidate. After his release, Sergei became her trusted person and participated in collecting signatures.
On May 29, 2020, he was detained again during a picket in Grodno and later convicted under several criminal articles, including "organizing mass riots" and "inciting hatred." According to human rights activists, the defendants in the "case" are required to pay compensation in the amount of 29 million rubles.
In August 2022, the court transferred Sergei to prison regime. In February 2023, he was convicted again for "malicious disobedience to the demands of the administration of a correctional institution" - an article applied to prisoners who refuse to cooperate with the administration, including for fictitious violations. As a result, another year and a half of imprisonment was added to his 18-year sentence.
On June 21, 2025, Sergey was released following a visit to Minsk by U.S. President Donald Trump's special representative, Keith Kellogg, and was immediately taken to Lithuania.
