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Detained as a result of a massive raid by security forces on January 23-24, 2024 on relatives of political prisoners and people who sent parcels and letters to political prisoners.
Irina was tried as a "Person who committed a socially dangerous act." This means that, according to the court's decision, compulsory medical measures were to be applied to her. Her trial took place on September 18 and 23, 2024. Her whereabouts are unknown.
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The first time she was detained by the KGB at the end of January 2024 (during the mass detentions of relatives and friends of political prisoners) for writing letters and transferring money to the accounts of political prisoners in the pre-trial detention center of prison No. 1. Then a criminal case was opened against her under Art. 361-2 (financing extremist activities), but the woman was not taken into custody.
During the search, equipment and money were confiscated from her. After examining the technique, unwanted comments were allegedly discovered on social networks, and an examination was then carried out on them. After receiving the results of the examination, on April 20, 2024, Victoria was re-detained and placed in a temporary detention facility, and subsequently in a pre-trial detention center.
Alenais accused of financing extremist activity as a result of large-scale arrests during the persecution by the authorities for supporting political prisoners and their families with the social food aid project INeedHelpBy.
Mother of former political prisoner Marina Glazova.
On August 27, 2024, the appeal was heard and the verdict came into force.
Mother of political prisoner blogger Olga Tokarczuk (was released in June 2022 after serving her sentence). She was detained as a result of a massive raid by security forces on January 23-24, 2024 on relatives of political prisoners and people who sent parcels and letters to political prisoners.
On August 5, 2024, Judge Artem Vladimirovich Manzhos examined the administrative protocol against Tatyana under Part 2 of Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (Distribution, production, storage, transportation of information products containing calls for extremist activity or promoting such activity).
Tatyana was convicted for helping the repressed.
Alla was detained during a "solidarity raid" in late January 2024 on charges of supporting political prisoners and their families. That fall, she was convicted of a number of criminal offenses, including "assisting extremist activity" and "active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order," and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.
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.
Alla was detained during a "solidarity raid" in late January 2024 on charges of supporting political prisoners and their families. That fall, she was convicted of "assisting extremist activity" and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.
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.
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Elena, a nurse at the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Children's Oncology, Hematology, and Immunology, was arrested and convicted of "assisting extremist activity" and sentenced to imprisonment.
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.
Elena Toporkova is 54 years old. She graduated from the Belarusian State Polytechnical Academy (now BNTU).
Elena was likely detained during a raid on those in solidarity with political prisoners that took place at the end of January 2024.
People caught in the raid on those in solidarity with political prisoners, which took place from January 23 to 24, say that the number of those who were subject to criminal cases may be much higher than human rights activists know. Completely non-public people simply made transfers or sent parcels to political prisoners from their own funds.
On March 19, 2026, she was pardoned after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole (among a group of 235 prisoners left in Belarus).
She was detained for assisting political prisoners on January 23, 2024, after which Elena was released, but was detained again in April of the same year and placed in a pre-trial detention center.
On March 19, 2026, he was pardoned after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole (among a group of 235 prisoners left in Belarus).
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Natalia was detained during a "solidarity raid" in late January 2024 on charges of supporting political prisoners and their families. That fall, she was convicted of "assisting extremist activity" and "active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order" and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.
It is known that before her arrest, Natalia worked for Solbeg. After the war began, the company relocated a significant portion of its employees abroad, but Natalia remained in Belarus.
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.
Irina will be tried for supporting political prisoners.
We are talking about a 49-year-old woman from Soligorsk. The last "like" on Odnoklassniki was in early January, just before the massive KGB raid.
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Candidate of Historical Sciences, adjunct professor at the Institute of History, University of Wroclaw. Melnikov specialized in military history and the history of the period when Western Belarus was part of Poland (1921-1939). He has published a dozen and a half books on Western Belarus. In 2020, he was awarded the L. Sapieha Prize for the preservation of the historical heritage of Belarus.
It is known for sure that he was arrested and is being held in a pretrial detention center. Melnikov's last activity on Instagram dates back to January 21, 2024.
Melnikov is being tried for an interview he gave to an unnamed independent media outlet in 2022. The trial is being held in open mode. An excerpt from the indictment was quoted by SB:
"In 2022, Igor Melnikov, motivated by national hatred and discord, as well as political and ideological hatred, knowingly knowing about the extremist activities of participants in an information resource banned in Belarus, gave them an interview in order to develop and popularize media of this kind and involve more citizens in such activities," the prosecutor said. It is noted that the historian gave comments to the media both in Belarus and in Poland. Melnikov reportedly admitted his guilt.
The Court of Appeal reduced the sentence imposed by the court of first instance by 2 years.
Igor was released in early September 2025, having served his full sentence.
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- Parents of minors
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Irina Pogadaeva is 54 years old. She is from Brest. She worked at a local library as a bibliographer. Judging by social networks, she has two children.
At the end of January 2024, when she was tried for “distributing extremist materials.” At the end of 2023, she was included in the “extremist formation.” This was recognized by the Facebook community “Letters of Solidarity Belarus 2020”, in which people exchanged letters from political prisoners and also discussed helping prisoners.
In total, the case involves more than thirty episodes in which a woman sent money to political prisoners in pre-trial detention centers in Minsk, Gomel and other cities of the country. Basically, we are talking about amounts of 4-5 rubles. In just less than a year and a half (from August 2021 to December 2022), Irina sent 188 rubles. This was enough to initiate a criminal case and arrest in May 2024.
Sergei was arrested for his solidarity with the repressed.
Yunchits is 50 years old and was born in the village of Podvosye in the Zhitkovichi district. He has been involved in business since the 1990s. According to Zerkalo, the man managed the family company Yuniko-Dental, which supplies dental materials, instruments, and equipment, until 2023.
On March 19, 2026, he was pardoned after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole (among a group of 235 prisoners left in Belarus).