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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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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.
The last post on Denis's Facebook page was made in March 2022.
Denis graduated from the Belarusian Trade and Economics University of Consumer Cooperatives and worked in the trading house of the Rogachev Dairy Canning Plant, which is located in Gomel.
The circumstances of the criminal case against Denis are being investigated by human rights activists.
On March 19, 2026, he was released after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole, and taken to Lithuania.
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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.
According to pro-government Telegram channels, four individuals—called a "sleeper cell of extremists" —were detained . They had "external ties" to Belarusian volunteers fighting in Ukraine. Dmitry was among them.
They all hail from Gomel and, judging by their social media posts, had been friends for a long time, having played together in an international game of Beer Pong in Gomel. After their brutal arrest , the friends were forced to record a "confession video" and testify that they had created a chat room where they corresponded with each other and, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, had allegedly insulted Lukashenko several times in their messages and also made "inappropriate" comments. Another accusation was that the boys "had external connections" with Belarusian volunteers fighting for Ukraine. Apparently, this was the basis for the criminal case under the article "assistance to extremist activity."
On May 10, 2024, the appeal was heard and the verdict came into force.
He was released in December 2025, having served his full sentence.
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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.
Kirill, an engineer, was found guilty in May 2021 of criminal hooliganism committed by a group of persons for replacing the red-green flag with a white-red-white one during a protest on August 16, 2020, in Gomel.
Alexander was detained in January 2022 by GUBOPiK and OMON officers, who attacked him, pushing him face-first into the snow, and then dragged him into a police car. He was recorded on video, claiming he didn't know why he was detained. According to police testimony, in the summer of 2020, Alexander left messages in a local chat room advising people to "gather in small groups in each district and then head downtown" and to "abandon their cars on the road" on central streets.
In April 2022, Alexander was found guilty in a criminal case brought under the article "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them," and was sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.
He was released in May 2023, having fully served his sentence.
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Alexey, a radio host at Radio Gomel and known by the pseudonym Alexey Kaverin, was arrested in December 2021 as part of a criminal case opened under the article "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them," and was remanded in custody.
In March 2022, he was convicted of inciting public disorder, according to the charges, by calling for people to take to the streets of Gomel, organize marches, form chains, and also declaring his readiness to participate in any active actions, including wearing white clothes and joining women with flowers.
He was released in September 2022, having fully served his sentence.