Belarus

A few days ago, one of my comrades sent me a relatively old text (https://t.me/stupidisthenewcool/1001) criticizing the statement by Russian anarchists on the war in Ukraine and the exclusion of Belarusian and Ukrainian comrades from public events in the “West”[1]. Most of the text is a perfectly adequate critique of the statement, but one thing struck me and made me sit down to write this text.

From Nasha Niva

I listen to a podcast by American anarchists. And the anarchist movement has always positioned itself as international, transnational. And so a girl in the podcast says: we don't recognize Bakunin and Kropotkin and are not going to read them because they are white men. I listen and understand: she calls herself an anarchist, I call myself an anarchist, but for me, what she says is absolute savagery.

From Freedom News UK

The Belarusian regime has recently released anarchist prisoner Nikita Yemelyanov, arrested in October 2019 on suspicion of attempting to set fire to a Pretrial Detention Centre No. 1 in Minsk and sentenced to four years in prison. His sentence under Article 411 was subsequently extended twice, bringing his total to seven years. While in prison, Nikita was frequently placed in a punishment cell, and eventually transferred to a prison regime.

From Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

Yesterday, we received good news: two of our comrades, Pavel Shpetny and Aleksandr Kozlyanko, have been released. After their release, they were deported from the country and are currently in Lithuania.

From Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

In 2025, the level of repression did not decrease. Pressure in prisons and penal colonies continues: prisoners are regularly placed in solitary confinement, deprived of visits and parcels, and subjected to other forms of punishment. Despite two prisoner exchanges in return for lifting sanctions, the overall trajectory of the repressive policy remains unchanged. New criminal cases are being initiated, and those already incarcerated continue to face systemic pressure.

From Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

We think it’s important to express our position on the situation that has unfolded around Mikola Dziadok after his release, as our group supported Mikola for a total of 10 years, and we shared with him the same movement and struggle against the dictatorship in Belarus.

From Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

In September, Aliaksei Halauko had six months added to his six-year sentence under Article 411 (disobedience to prison administration). This information only became public in October. In October, under the same Article 411, Aliaksandar Kazlianka’s sentence was increased by 1.5 years, Pavel Shpetny’s by 2 years, and Jauhen Rubashka’s by 1 year.

From Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

It’s not only criminalised to express any form of dissent in Belarus. Showing solidarity with political prisoners is also punishable, even when it comes from their parents.

A year and a half ago, we published a bigger text titled “When ideology stands in the way of solidarity” about how certain anarchist groups in various Western European countries manipulate facts to exclude Eastern European anarchists from discussions about the war in Ukraine.

From Freedom News UK by Nikita Ivansky

The regime deported 52 political prisoners in exchange for sanctions relief