Elena Petrovna Gnauk
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Elena Petrovna Gnauk
- Associations
- Activists
- Retirees
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, Keith Kellogg, and taken to Ukraine.
How to write a letter
✏️ A postcard with words of encouragement (a poem by your favorite author, song lyrics, or a beautiful quote). Trust us, even such simple gestures are very meaningful to a person in jail.
✏️ Your life events. To a person who is in isolation for a long time, any story about your routine endeavors will be a window into normal life. Your day-to-day worries and mundane matters are much more interesting than the daily grind of life behind bars.
✏️ It is important to share news. Mention the most notable and interesting occurrences depending on your pen-pal's interests.
✍️️ Remember that every letter is censored. This means that your letters are read by strangers whose main goal is to limit inmates' access to information or to use it against the prisoners or even you.
So try to avoid:
👉️️ harsh statements regarding ongoing political matters
👉 statements against the authorities and public servants
👉 foul language
👉 discussion of the circumstances of the criminal case
Involved in repression
