The Black Book of Belarus and the “Peramoga” plan. A lesson for the democratic forces

This review presents facts about hybrid attacks of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structure in Lithuania in public sphere aimed at discrediting Belarusian structures of the civil society, not affiliated to her.

Contents:

Specifics of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures in the territory of Lithuania.
Case of the Belarusian organizations in Lithuania – “Black Book of Belarus” and “Infopoint”, the director of which is the Senior Advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Franak Viačorka.
Monitoring report on arrests of people registered in Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s “Peramoga” plan, whose personal data got into the hands of GUBOPiK and KGB, and who were not timely warned by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her structures about the leakage of information and threats of arrests.

Specifics of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures in the territory of Lithuania.

As of today, a number of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structure are acting in the territory of Lithuania.

As “Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures” we understand:

Those which are situated with her in the same office (as, e.g., the blogger, Anton Matolka) or which are using, as a rule, one and the same premises for their legal address.

For example, several Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures are registered at the same address: ул. Savickio 4, apartment 7:

Infopoint Media Network, VšĮ. (former Woke Foundation), the director is Franak Viačorka/Francisak Viacorkа.
East European School of Political Studies, VšĮ with the director Alexander Dabravolski, and
Logvino literatūros namai, VšĮwith the director Alexandra Logvinova.

Another example: also at the address: Nagevičiaus 3, several Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structure are situated:

OFFICE OF SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA, VšĮ, Miroslavas Monkevicius is indicated as the director;
Infopoint Agency, UAB — its director is concurrantly also the director of the Polish Infopoint Agency SOO, Alexandra Romanova;
Baltic Sandbox, UAB — the director is Sandra Golbreikh(Sandra_Golbreich), communications specialist of the BYSOL Foundation, who admitted to have acted together with Andrej Stryzhak to “order” four articles aimed at discrediting Natalia Kolegova, the head of Dapamoga organization.

2. They have the same dummy directors, as well as common phone numbers.

3. Representatives of those affiliated structure accompany Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in her trip as members of her delegation, take photos with her everywhere, prepare her trips and events.

4. Those who publish a disproportionally large number of articles praising Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya while not publishing any critical or analytical article about her activity or her strategies. Those who disproportionally exaggerate giving her credit or attribute to her other people’s merit.

For example, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated media Nasha Niva published at least 144 articles praising Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in the period from August, 2020 to August, 2022. Those who actively spread fakes and disinformation about everybody who is not Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structure.

5. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya publicly calls to donate money to those structures, is actively lobbying for money to arrive to those organizations at her meetings with donors, at the same time covering up all the corruption scandals in those structures to the maximum possible extent.

6. At the same time, the said structures pretend to be independent and deny all the direct connections with the political structure of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

7. They ignore the requirements of the Lithuanian legislation and are building dubious financial schemes confident that Lithuania will cover up all the possible scandals in order to avoid their own political reputational losses. The actual activities of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures, registered in Lithuania, practically do not coincide with the activities specified in their charters.

For example, the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Lithuania (a political structure) is for some reason registered as a printing house, providing publishing services (VšĮ “OFFICE OF SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA”, identification code of legal entity 305683122).

The mass media Nasha Niva, registered as a non-profit enterprise (VšĮ), disguised as a fund (VšĮ «Nasha Niva Fund», identification code of legal entity 305965367); in accordance with its Charter, its official activity is art galleries and art salons, but in fact it is actually a mass media.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated BYSOL Foundation, registered as «Labdaros ir paramos fondas Bysol» (identification code of legal entity 305670484), since March 7, 2022, for some reason has been engaged in the production of bulletproof vests and has even raised 500 thousand USD for that; also, the organization is producing them not in Lithuania, but in a third country. One of the founders of BYSOL, Andrej Stryzhak, said that in his Telegram channel.

Production of bullet-proof vests is not a statutory activity of the charitable foundation, it requires special licenses which, as we understand, have never been obtained by the foundation in Lithuania.

Also, we are not sure, that the 500 thousand USD raised for the production of bullet-proof vests and purchase of machinery, have been properly processed and passed through official Lithuanian accounts of the organization BYSOL, as required by the Lithuanian legislation.

Stryzhak Volunteers in Ukraine

#БГМгость

March, 7+$500.000 have been raised, we start own production of bullet-proof vests, buying 10 machines.

8. Representatives of those structure openly admit to dubious contacts with the KGB operatives while they still were in the territory of Belarus and to “weekly meetings” with them for “just a chat”. For example, Nicolai Khalezin, the director of Creative Politics Hub, who went to the USA as part of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s official delegation in July 2021, openly admits that to the blogger Balaganoff, and later to the journalist Sergey Budkin.

9. The demonstrate racism and xenophobia in relation to the Lithuanian nation, imperial Soviet-type thinking and insult the government authorities of Lithuania.

Here’s an example the statement of Nicolai Khalezin, who went to the USA in the official delegation of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

It’s said on the screenshot: “The Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda suddenly decided that he is an heir to Francysk Skaryna, the “great Lithuanian printing pioneer”.

Indeed, the faster the population of the country is decreasing, the bigger is the desire to steal something from somebody. For example, a national hero of Belarus.

I have a desire to remind that Vilnia is a Belarusian city, which should be give back to the Belarusians, but I will not act like the non-educated and cynical Lithuanian president”.

Racism and xenophobia of Nicolai Khalezin is manifested by his accentuating that the Lithuanian people is not big, so it’s unimportant, not serious, and that being a small nation (i.e., not having its own historical and cultural values), Lithuanians are stealing cultural values from the great Belarusian people. A small nation allegedly elects uneducated bad people to be its leaders (a hint that Lithuanians cannot make a right choice and constantly elect weird people). Also, Nicolai Khalezin in his statement says that Belarusians can have territorial claims to Lithuania and demands to give back Vilnius to Belarus as a “Belarusian” city. Considering that he is involved into the political structure of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, public statements considering territorial claims for the return of Vilnius to Belarus, even made in such a soft form that he “had a desire to write” that does not look harmless in the context of future Lithuanian-Belarusian relations.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her affiliated structures should not to make territorial claims for Vilnius against Lithuania, as it has a highly bad impact on the life and functioning of the Belarusian diaspora in Lithuania.

10. In the headquarters of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya there are a lot former and current citizens of the Russian Federation, but there is no even one former or present Ukrainian citizen.

11. The said structures are actively trying to quarrel and sow discord between the Belarusian and the Ukrainian people, also by spreading fakes and disinformation (a separate report will be dedicated to this issue).

Case of the Belarusian organizations in Lithuania – “Black Book of Belarus” and “Infopoint”, the director of which is the Senior Advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Franak Viačorka.

From May-June, 2021, Franak Viačorka, Aliaksandra Ramanava, Daniil Bahdanovich and a number of other employees of Infopoint, the Black Book of Belarus, BYPOL have been fully aware that GUBOPiK of Belarus got access to personal data bases of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s supporters in the BLack Book of Belarus and the “Peramoga” plan bot. However, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her team did nothing to warn people about danger and threats of arrests. As the result of their silence, hundreds of people in Belarus got arrested and are currently behind bars.

Among them, a huge number of the supporters of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya from uniformed agencies of Belarus got imprisoned.

In spite that, since May-June, 2021, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, her affiliated media structures, including the media collected in a network through InfoPoint, as well as BYPOL and others, publicly and manifoldly called on people to join the “Peramoga” plan as the only structure capable to unite the supporters of democratic change in Belarus.
Here are the screenshots of the appeals to register in the “Peramoga” plan bot from Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her Senior Advisor, Franak Viačorka.

The screenshot of August 11, 2021. By that time, for already three months, all Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures in Lithuania, as well as Tsikhanouskaya herself (if she is at all a head and leader of some kind and monitors what is happening in her structures) had known that the personal data of people registering in “Peramoga” bot, were known to GUBOPiK, but they still continued to publicly call on everybody to join the plan, thus, creating a deadly danger for the people.

There is the same message in both the screenshots. The first message was published on the official Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Telegram channel, and the second one – on the official channel for her advisor, Franak Viačorka.

“Representatives of the Coordination Council, the Office and the Cabinet of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the NAU, the team of Tsepkala, “Rabochy Rukh” (workers’ movement), ByPol, BySol, “A Country to Live in” foundation, the Digital Solidarity (a division of BySol Foundation), the Belarusian Rada of Culture, of the Belarusian Medical Solidarity Foundation (a division of BySol Foundation), of Skhod, Zubr Media (a YouTube channel of “Malanka”), Belarusian Students’ Association and other initiatives discussed in Vilnius the strategy of joint actions aimed at liberation of political prisoners, exhorting pressure on the regime and holding free elections. The participants agreed to act together and in the framework of a single strategy and support “Rabochy Rukh” and the “Peramoga” plan.

Prehistory of the matter: The Black Book of Belarus is Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structure in the territory of Lithuania. It is collecting personal data of the enforcers and other representatives of the regime of Lukashenka, involved in repressions and torture. In September, 2020, he newly created team of the project the Black Book of Belarus was infiltrated by an acting officer of GUBOPiK (the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (GUBOPiK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus), the bloodiest structure of the MIA, involved in torture and murder of people. From September, 2014 to November, 2020, the GUBOPiK was headed by Mikalai Karpiankou, trained by Ihar Makar during his time at “Almaz”; they both threatened Olga Karach with physical elimination.

Later it turned out, that the name of the GUBOPiK operative who had infiltrated the Black Book, was Artur Haiko, a Vitebsk resident. For a long time, no employee of the Black Book and Infopoint was even interested in the name of the person responsible for security in Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s structures, having access to personal data bases of people, and also staying in the territory of Belarus.

By fault, negligence or deliberate actions of the Infopoint employee, Daniil Bahdanovich, who is still working in that organization of Franak Viačorka, an employee of GUBOPiK infiltrated first the Black Book of Belarus, and then Infopoint – the two biggest Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures, worked and was paid salary there.

As a person responsible for security of two main Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures in the territory of Lithuania – the Black Book of Belarus, working with the enforcers and the Infopoint working with media, the GUBOPiK operative gained access to all their sensitive information.

It means, that the GUBOPiK has the information which journalists the Infopoint has been paying to for promoting and advertising Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Disclosure of such information against the journalists puts an end to their journalistic career, therefore, it creates prerequisites for blackmailing and recruitment of agents by the KGB and the special services of Belarus among journalists of independent media.

It also means there is high probability that GUBOPiK gained access also to the names and information of the sponsors that supported those two structures, the Black Book and Infopoint. If the projects are sensitive, the regime will use it to its advantage.

In April, 2021, Artur even became the leader of the project “Black Book of Belarus”, and also became responsible for the security of Infopoint agency. According to the information of journalists, he was paid salary there. The agency coordinated the media activity of the Headquarters of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, it was curated by its director and the only founder, Franak Viačorka.

In the meantime, people in Belarus were arrested in huge numbers on suspicion of collaboration with the Black Book of Belarus, the Peramoga plan, the Belaruski Gaiun, the Telegram channel of Franak Viačorka “Belarus Golovnogo Mozga, as well as with BYPOL.

The identity of Artur Haiko was disclosed only at the end of May, 2021, after Raman Pratasevich’s arrest. The GUBOPiK operative Artur Haiko was one of those who took Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega from the RYNAIR flight, hijacked and forced to land in Minsk by the special services of Lukashenka.

After that, it became clear that for at least 9 months, a GUBOPiK agent had been working in the higher management of the Black Book of Belarus and the Infopoint.

According to the information of BYPOL, Artur Haiko was promoted for the infiltration into the teams of the Black Book and Infopoint: in March, 2021, he was promoted to captain of the police.

The only employee of the Black Book of Belarus, who made attempts to react to the situation, was Yanina Sazanovich. However, the situation was repeated as the situation with the former assistant of Andrej Stryzhak, Sviatlana Haluza: first the woman was ignored, and later she was even suspected of collaboration with the KGB.

The acting GUBOPiK operative also prepared analytical reports for the headquarters of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and for Franak Viačorka, for example, an assessment that the method of disclosure of personal data was not effective for pressurizing the enforcement officers. It is unknown exactly, where that report was submitted, but it’s evident, it was submitted to a number of international partners of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

The leadership of BYPOL, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structure for work with enforcers, and a former police operative, Aliaksandr Azarau, perfectly knowing about leakage of people’s personal data to GUBOPiK, misinformed people just a year ago, saying that he was an “administrator of one of the channels”. However, he was not an administrator of a channel that people just subscribe to, but a bot, where people wrote providing information on the former Azarau’s colleagues in the police, risking multiple times more that if they have been just reading a chat or a channel.

Although Azarau and BYPOL employees knew about the danger, they have deliberately kept silent about it. It’s easy to understand why: if they have told the truth, people would have deleted their Telegram accounts, thus, decreasing the number of participants of the “Peramoga” plan, and that would greatly affect the reputation of the politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

In their video, the BYPOL leadership tried hard to convince that Artur Haiko had leaked a lot of useful information about the Belarusian uniformed agencies, and that BYPOL members had been aware of everything from the beginning.

Also, the leader of BYPOL, Aliaksandr Azarau, says in his video that the “Peramoga” plan provides security of those who interact with it. Nevertheless, again, he does not warn people who have been writing from their open accounts to the “Peramoga” bot, that it is easily found in the Telegram’s search, and that they urgently need either to clear the list of bots, or to delete their accounts.

Here’s the message of June 30, 2021 (by that time Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures in Lithuania already knew that an acting GUBOPiK agent had infiltrated her structures).

The screenshot of the official Telegram channel of BYPOL, a Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structure for work with enforcers.

“In this video BYPOL reveals the secrets of work of the GUBOPiK computer intelligence and shows why you don’t need to be afraid of it. And most importantly, you’ll learn the details of failure and exposure of the regular GUBOPiK agent, who as part of his operational assignment, leaked to the Black Book of Belarus personal data of his colleagues and other enforcers.
Let’s restore law and order in Belarus – join the ‘Peramoga” plan!”

It is daunting how easy it was for GUBOPiK to plant their agent into the management of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures. So, a simple and logical question arises: how many other such agents have been planted in to her hindquarters and are surrounding her, what analytical reports are they writing and what are they influencing on?

Since May, 2021, and till now, neither Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya nor even one employee of her affiliated structures has not warned their supporters about the leakage of the personal data bases to GUBOPiK and about the consequences of that leakage. Neither have they apologized for their silence nor admitted publicly to their mistakes.

Till now, Franak Viačorka, the Senior Advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and the executive director of Infopoint continues to mislead people and to claim that he “had nothing to do” with that situation.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya herself has been fully and forever discredited in the eyes of the law enforcement structures of Belarus, having put her supporters in the uniformed agencies under arrests and detention so stupidly.

Also, we want to underline separately, that most probably those people will never get the status of political prisoners, and human rights defenders will not even learn about them.

On February 16, 2022, Andrei Parshyn, the head of GUBOPiK, hinted frankly at this situation by saying: “General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption, the operatives of the division are taking preventive measures. Our enemies do not have a slightest idea about the methods that we possess today. It’s worth mentioning, that we have started preparation for a long confrontation, also in the informational field, long before the events of August 2020”, which means that a number of people in the opposition had been planted or recruited by GUBOPiK and the KGB long before the events of August, 2020. (Information on what GUBOPiK is can be ready in the reference).

Reference: GUBOPiK (or GUBAZiK in Belarusian) – the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption, is the bloodiest division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus. It is involved in absolutely all crimes against humanity, from torture and kidnapping of people, to murder and protection racketeering of drug trafficking. They often shoot the so-called “repentance videos”, in which a frightened person with traces of torture is asking Aliaksandr Lukashenka for forgiveness for her or his participation in protests. Quite often such videos, humiliating human dignity, are shot with a huge letter “Z” in the background.

On June 21, 2021, the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption was put on the US Blocked Persons and Specially Designated Nationals list for the the deployment of specialized units to commit violence against protesters, including for the raid on the office of the opposition candidate for presidency, detention of Maria Kalesnikava and arrest of Raman Pratasevich. Former leader of GUBOPiK, Mikalai Karpiankou, was also put on the US sanctions list (see Chapter 1. Case “Ihar Makar”). On the same day, Karpiankou was also put on the sanctions list of the EU, Great Britain and Canada. On July, 7, Switzerland joined the sanctions against Karpiankou. On December 2, 2021, the leader of GUBOPiK, Andrei Parshyn, and other senior officials came under the sanctions of the USA and Canada. On the same day, Parshyn was also put on the sanctions list of the Great Britain.

Initially, the “Peramoga” plan bot was registered in the Russian Federation, in Rostov-on-Don, which was highly dangerous for the Belarusian protest active core. It was discovered by independent YouTube bloggers, who tried to sound the alarm and warn people that the “Peramoga” plan bot was not safe and that it was highly probable it was under full control of the Russian and Belarusian special services. Then, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures also organized harassment against those bloggers calling them “KGB agents” and their attempts to warn people about the upcoming arrests due to leakage of their personal data “an attempt to defame Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and demoralize the active protest core”. Here are the screenshots proving that initially the chat-bot of the “Peramoga” plan was made on the basis of a Russian platform. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Aliaksandr Azarau, Franak Viačorka, Daniil Bahdanovich, Aliaksandra Ramanava and other employees of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures the Black Book and Infopoint were perfectly aware of the situation but did everything to cover it up and not to warn people about the risk of arrests. Until now, nobody has explained the reasons why the chat-bot of “Peramoga” was placed in Russia and nobody has commented the situation.

Examples of arrests of people registered in Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s “Peramoga” plan, whose personal data got into the hands of GUBOPiK and KGB, and who were not timely warned by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her structures about the leakage of information and threats of arrests (the list is not complete). Currently, all those people are behind bars.

It is also known about arrests of those people who tried to contact and send information to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated blogger Anton Matolka. Matolka himself has not commented the mass scale detentions of people writing to his bot and has not tried to prevent their arrests, because at that moment he was busy harassing and persecuting the young Belarusian journalist on internship in Germany. Besides that, people got arrested for contacting Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated Telegram channel “Belarus Golovnogo Mozga”.

Detentions of the participants of the “Peramoga” plan and of those who wrote to Anton Matolka and to the Telegram channel “Belarus Golovnogo Mozga” are conducted by the GUBOPiK. Often such detentions are cruel: they break out apartment doors, put the detained people on the floor and handcuff them, beat some of them.

As a rule, they record “repentance videos” with the arrested people on which they admit they are registered in the “Peramoga” plan Telegram bot and call on others not to register there because it’s “not anonymous”. There are tens of “repentance videos” on the regime’s Telegram channels. They are often accompanied by information that the arrested person is facing charges of participation in an extremist group.

On November 11, 2021, near a public transport bus in Slonim, the GUBOPiK detained Ivan Krivushin. It was reported that the 40-year-old resident of Slonim was detained for participation in extremist Telegram channels and for registration in the “Peramoga” plan. A “repentance video” with him was published. Probably, Ivan is facing charges under Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code (participation in an extremist group).

On January 9, 2022, a resident of Grodno, Maksim Publitsky, was detained. Not less than three enforcers in full armor came to detain him at his home. According to what he admitted on the video, he had insulted public officials on the Internet, and that he started the “Peramoga” chat bot in summer 2021. The enforcers said directly that they came for him “thanks” to the “leaked data base of the “Peramoga” plan.

On February 11, 2022, in Volkovyssk, the auto electrician Ruslan Huseinau was detained at his work place for registration in the “Peramoga” chat bot, spreading of extremist materials and participation in protest meetings in 2020.

On March 1, 2022, the GUBOPiK arrested the individual entrepreneur Oleg Sarkach (Aleh Sarkach) for registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot and for getting a task from the “Peramoga” plan bot administrators. He was detained by the enforcers on the spot.

On March 2, 2022, in Osipovichy, the GUBOPiK detained the 43-year-old entrepreneur Aleksey Shishkovets for registration in the “Peramoga” plan. He is currently in Mogilev prison N. 4. The man is facing up to 20 years in prison. He is in custody.

On March 3, 2022, in Svetlagorsk, the GUBOPiK detained Yury Kazhamiaka on suspicion of registering in the “Peramoga” plan. A historian by education, at the moment of his detention, Yury was working at Svetlagorsk plant of reinforced concrete products, before that he had been a teacher at school. On the Telegram channels of the regime a “repentance video” with Yury appeared where it was said that for the “registration in the “Peramoga” plan he was being incriminated Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code (participation in an extremist formation)”.

On March 3, 2022, the engineer Aliaksandr Komar was detained. He was charged under Art. 64 of the Criminal Code to two years of imprisonment in a medium-security prison, and also under p. 3 Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code for participation in the “Peramoga” plan to 6 months of imprisonment in a maximum-security correctional facility. By cumulative sentencing, Aliaksandr Komar was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a maximum security correctional facility.

On March 4, 2022, in Svetlagorsk, local dwellers Dzmitry Ravich, Dzianis Dzikun and Aleh Mauchanau were detained in the framework of the criminal case under Art. 289 of the Criminal Code (an act of terrorism). A 29-year-old resident of Svetlagorsk in February, 2022, proactively joined extremist group BYPOL / the “mobilization “Peramoga” plan; the management of the plan gave him a task to incapacitate the railway infrastructure in the territory of Gomel region”, – the Investigation Committee of Belarus informed. In accordance with the investigation file, the men set a relay control cabinet on fire; the cabinet was providing safe passage of pedestrians and vehicles. According to the enforcers, the damage equaled to about 55 thousan Belarusian rubles (over 16 thousand USD). The detained residents of Svetlagorsk are facing the capital punishment – the death penalty. The brother of one of them, Dzmitry Dzikun, explained the actions of his relatives that he “tried to help Ukraine in some way at least”.

On March 14, 2022, arrived the news about detention of Aliaksandr Klimenka, an electrical engineer of the enterprise Revsystems; he was registered in “extremist” channels and in the “Peramoga” group.

On March 17, 2022, the Brest region division of GUBOPiK detained a man who was registered in the “Peramoga” plan, was planning to go fight for Ukraine and offered his services to BYPOL.

On March 21, 2022, in Minsk, 34-year-old Yury Semennik was detained. The man registered in the “Peramoga” plan. According to the enforcers, he is facing charges under Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus “Creation of an extremist formation or participation in such”.

On March 22, 2022, a student of BSUIR, Yauhen Maliauka, who studied at the Faculty of Information Technologies and Control, specialty of artificial intelligence, was detained for registration at the “Peramoga” plan”.

On March 22, 2022, a 43-year-old dweller of Osipovichy was detained, who in January of the last year had voluntarily joined BYPOL and the “Peramoga” mobilization plan.

On March 22, 2022, a Minsk dweller, Ivan Kavaleuski, was detained; he had registered in the “Peramoga” plan, and also informed Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structures of his plan to go to Ukraine to fight for it.

On March 29, 2022, two people were detained: a dweller of Osipovichy, Raman Kirdun and a dweller of Minsk Aliaksei Skroba for registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot.

On March 30, 2022, a digital artist from Gomel, Viktar Kulinka, was detained for photographing a column of military equipment of the Russian troops, which was heading towards Gomel, and passed the photos to the Telegram channel “Belaruski Gaiun”, belonging to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated blogger Anton Matolka. Viktor was also registered in the “Peramoga” plan.

On April 1, 2022, a 38-year-old Bobrujsk local, Maksim Belianovich, was detained. He is being incriminated Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code (participation in an extremist group) for participation in the “Peramoga” plan.

On April 1, 2022, a 43-year-old resident of Gomel, Aleh Baradzin, was detained for shooting a video at the railway station of Gomel with Russian military hardware and transferred it to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated Telegram channel “Belarus Golovnogo Mozga”. Baradzin is in custody in Gomel pre-trial detention facility.

Supposedly on April 1, 2022 (the exact date is unknown) a 30-year-old Gomel local, an IT specialist Andrei Utkin, was detained. Andrei had photographed a column of the Russian military hardware and sent it to the Telegram channel “Belaruski Gaiun“, which belongs to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated blogger Anton Matolka.

Also, an underage student of a professional lyceum became a defendant in a case under Art. 361-4 of the Criminal Code. It is reported that an underaged native of Mozyr sent a video with movement of military equipment to the Telegram channel “Belaruski Gaiun” belonging to the blogger Anton Matolka. He is in custody now. The name and the whereabouts of the minor are unknown for now. The Investigation Committee communicates that in the framework of P. 1 Art. 361-4 of the Criminal Code, a 37-year-old taxist from Gomel was detained. His name and whereabouts have also not been established yet.

On April 5, 2022, in the morning at her dacha, a 49-year-old former teacher from Khoiniki, Iryna Abdukeryna was detained for recording a video with movement of a Russian military equipment column and sent the video to the Telegram channel “Belaruski Gaiun“, belonging to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated blogger Anton Matolka.

On April 12, 2022, a musician Uladzislau Plushchau, a guitarist of Pomidor/off, who also played in Krambambula and Zet., was detained under several charges, including for the registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot”.

On April 20, 2022, in Minsk, the owners of the real-estate agency CUBE were detained, the spouses Vasili and Ala Ramanenka. GUBOPiK and SOBR operatives burst into their home. It is known that Vasili was accused under Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus “Creation of an extremist group or participation in such”. He was also registered in the “Peramoga” plan.

On April 20, 2022, a youth activist Arseni Dziadok was detained for being in the process of registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot and for participation in protest actions. Till the trial, Arseni was in custody at Minsk pre-trial detention facility N. 1. On September 15, 2022, he was sentenced to 3 years of restriction of liberty in an open-type correctional institution (“khimiya”).

On April 25, 2022, former associate professor of Minsk State Linguistic University, Natalia Dulina, was taken to the temporary detention facility in Okrestina lane once again. The enforcers got interested by the presence of the chat bot of registration in the “Peramoga” plan in her phone, as well as in the subscription to the Telegram channel “The Black Book of Belarus”.

At the end of April, 2022, a Vitebsk dweller Anatol Mikhailau was detained for registration in the “Peramoga” plan. On September 6, 2022, the judicial board for criminal cases of Vitebsk regional court found Mikhailau guilty and for multiple offences sentenced him to four years of imprisonment in a medium-security prison and a fine in the amount of 3.2 thousand Belarusian rubles.

On April 28, 2022, Aliaksandr Andrushevich was taken into custody; he is charged under P. 1 Art. 342 of the Criminal Code and 361-1 of the Criminal Code for registration in the “Peramoga” plan chat bot.

On May 10, 2022, a man was detained in Brest region. He compared Lukashenka to Hitler and was also registered in the “Peramoga” plan.

On May 16, 2022, an orphan Andrei Raptunovich was detained for registration in the “Peramoga” plan and for allegedly wanting to go to Ukraine joint the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment.

In the middle of May, 2022, a 48-year-old resident of Mogilev, Pavel Yakimiuk, was detained because he had registered in “Peramoga” plan in October, 2021 due to his discord with the elections results. Pavel has had over 15 years of professional experience of industrial high rise works and has a business in the sphere. Besides other things, he participated in the restoration of the Dinamo Stadium in Minsk and of many other objects across the whole Belarus.

On May 20, 2022, it was reported about the detention of the 31-year-old Andrei Darakhovich for the registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot. The man was a history teacher at Minsk Language and Humanities College. Andrei has a wife and two under-age children.

On May 31, 2022, 31-year-old Natallia Hancharenka was detained in the framework of the criminal case regarding group actions, seriously harming public order (Article 342 of the Criminal Code of Belarus). In the “repentance” video that appeared later on the regime’s channels she is admitting of having blocked the traffic during the August protest actions in 2020, of being subscribed to “extremist” Telegram channels and of being registered in the “Peramoga” plan.

On June 1, 2022, it was reported about the detention of Palina Shynkevich (Polina Shinkevich). The 21-year-old Minsk resident studied at the law faculty of BSU at the specialty “Criminal law”. In high school the girl participated in Olympiads on Belarusian language reaching the city level of the contest. She was detained for the registration in “Peramoga” plan and for participation in a protest action in 2020.

On June 10, 2022, at his work place at MinskInzhProjekt, 35-year-old Chief Engineer Aliaksandr Laurynovich was detained. A repentance video appeared on the regime’s Telegram channels in which Aliaksandr says that he participated in protest actions in Minsk in August, 2020, made a photo with a national symbol and with a “shield”, and was passing the registration in the “Peramoga” plan and in the chat bot of the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment.

On June 10, 2022, enforcers detained a 20-year-old employee of Beltelecom, Tsimafei Halubok. He had passed registration in the “Peramoga” chat bot, and was sending spam to the police officers’ phone numbers with a special software.

On June 17, 2022, enforcers detained a 19-year-old orphan who had graduated from an art college, for registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot.

On June 26, 2022, a 35-year-old dweller of Grodno, Aliaksandr Hushcha, was detained. The reason was the registration in the “Peramoga” plan.

On June 23, 2022, an entrepreneur from Mogilev, Andrei Dzvihun, was detained for registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot.

On June 30, 2022, a physician from Grodno, Viktar Rusin, was detained. The reason was the registration in the “Peramoga” plan.

On July 8, 2022, an IT company employee, Katsiaryna Sasim, was detained for registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot. Currently, Katsiaryna is in the pre-trial detention facility SIZO-1 in Minsk.

On July 13, 2022, in Ivanava, for registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot, enforcers detained the former deputy head of the Ivanovsky Office of Internal Affairs who had quit his job at the police prior to the elections, Andrey Belenky, the local residents Andrei Drazhyn, Tamara Padymaka, Marina Kiyevets and Alena Putsykovich.

On July 20, 2022, enforcers detained an engineer of the Center of Information Technologies of Minsk City Executive Committee for registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot.

On July 25, 2022, in Minsk, 39-year-old Dzmitry Labachou was detained. The man had participated in the protest actions in 2020 blocking the traffic, and also had registered in the “Peramoga” plan.

In August, 2022, in Grodno, Dzianis Yantsevich was detained. The reason was the registration in the “Peramoga” plan.

On August 9, 2022, a resident of Krugloye, Alesia Pisarenkava, was detained for registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot.

On August 10, 2022, enforcers detained a Bobrujsk dweller, 33-year-old Dmitry Savienok for registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot

On August 16, 2022, a resident of Grodno, Andrei Novoselchan, was detained for registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot.

On September 3, 2022, the chief agronomist of one of the farms of Maloritsky district, Yan Habis, was detained for the registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot. Yan Habis is 34, he was born in the village of Loiki of Grodnensky district. The man had studied at the Lyceum N. 1 in Grodno, and then at Grodno Agricultural University. Lately he has lived in Malorita, working as the chief agronomist at one of the district’s farms. At the same time, he was conducting his own small network marketing business. The man has a family, two children of seven and four years old. They are protestant believers.

On September 6, 2022, a dweller of Lida was detained. Criminal cases have been opened against him for calls for protests and diversions on the railway. In 2020 the man allegedly was in the “protest” chat “Lida 97%” (chats with the number “97%” are the chats under full control of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s advisor Franak Viačorka), in which he actively communicated writing comments and messages. He was also registered in the “Peramoga” plan bot.

On September 8, 2022, the GUBOPiK of Mogilev detained the local Viktar Labkou for registration in the “Peramoga” plan. Not long before that the man had returned home from his work in Latvia.

On September 9, 2022, enforcer Aleh Haiduk was detained; he had been sending information about the employees of the uniformed agencies guilty of torture and violation of human rights to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structure BYPOL. Aleh Haiduk was arrested after the call with the head of BYPOL, Aliaksandr Azarau, a former GUBOPiK operative, who is currently living in Polan. Aleh Haiduk was also registered in the “Peramoga” plan. The former enforcer also applied for registration to the bot “Voiny Sveta” (Fighters of Light) to go fight “on the side of national battalions of Ukraine” and leaked the data of former colleagues to the “Black Book of Belarus”.

On September 12, 2022, enforcers detained a 37-year-old taxi driver who refused to drive two employees of the Investigation Committee. The man was also registered in the “Peramoga” plan.

On September 18, 2022, a well-known youth activist Yauhen Yuntsevich was detained in Grodno for the registration in the “Peramoga” plan bot.

On September 24, 2022, it was reported about detention of a taxi driver, Dzmitry Ivanou, in Cherykaw. He was detained at one of the local parking lots. Armed special forces operatives dragged him out of the car and put with his face to the ground. Dzmitry was one of the protest activists. As he put it himself, before the year 2020 he considered himself to be an apolitical person. However, “deterioration of living standards and indifference of those in power to solution of problems of simple people made him interested in the electoral programs of the competition of the acting president”, as the latter did not offer anything specific. Dzmitry has been detained and fined several times. He was arrested for 30 days. He was also registered in the “Peramoga” plan bot as a driver.

On October 16, 2022, it was reported about new mass-scale arrests of people registered in the “Peramoga” plan bot and cooperating with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s affiliated structure for work with the enforcers BYPOL. Since the Investigation Committee accuses them of preparing terrorist attacks, all these people are facing death penalty.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya does not comment the situation in any way and behaves like nothing bad is happening.

We’d like to repeat that it is only one small part of the mass-scale arrests of people, who trusted Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her appeals to register in the “Peramoga” plan bot, in which the acting GUBOPiK operative and employee of the Black Book and Infopoint was infiltrated. The number of people affected is a lot higher than stated in this report. We are speaking about hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

Conclusions:

The power structures and uniformed agencies will never go to the side of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya any more, because those who tried to do that are currently in prison, under torture, facing serious imprisonment terms due to the leakage of their personal data to the GUBOPiK and the KGB by the employee of the Black Book and the InfoPoint. Those enforcers that could potentially support her, will not do that seeing with their own eyes what has happened to their colleagues who trusted her.
The most active protest core ready for resistance, that trusted Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, is arrested and in prison due to following the appeals of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to register in the “Peramoga” chat bot, or is under serious risks of arrests in the near future.
The good news: the civil society in Belarus has not been destroyed; however, only those democratic groups remained free and active who initially did not trust Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was critical of her and actively supported other democratic leaders. Those people continue their resistance, but objectively they are fewer in numbers, also due to lack of recourses for their work and lack of their own financial “safety cushions”.
The good news: as of today, the civil society in Belarus that stayed free and continues the work, has a distinct pro-European orientation, because from the beginning they did not trust and did not support Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya due to her unclear geopolitical stance, and now they will not trust her even more for the reason of leakage of personal data and arrest of people who trusted her.
The bad news: now it will be extremely complicated to build trust towards democratic leaders, as the price paid for a mistake of trust includes long terms of imprisonment, torture and even death. Today, the people who support the democratic change, are highly disappointed. That disappointment in Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her structures will be blocking any mass-scale participation in the resistance and any construction of new structures of the civil society in Belarus.
It must be admitted, that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her affiliated structures have used their political capital and resources derived from their political capital not to build structures of the civil society, or build a wide democratic dialogue, but have spent them on the attempts to gain an absolute control over the Belarusian protest movement, an absolute censorship in the independent media (a separate report on this issue shall be provided), as well as to reduce the activity of the protest movement in Belarus through their discrediting campaigns aimed against other democratic actors, which has resulted in mass-scale disappointment of the Belarusian people and a sharp fall in the protest activity.