Belarusian-American 501(c)(3) non-profit
HEROS OF BELARUS
This page is dedicated to those Belarusian souls that will always be in our memory for their courage, perseverance and integrity. Zhive Belarus!
1. Aleh Byabenin, 36 y.o., died 09.03.2010
Co-founder and director of the outspoken Charter 97 website. He was found hanged at his family's house in the village of Pyarhurava near Minsk on September 3, 2010.
2. Aliaksandr Taraikouski, 34 y.o., died 08.10.2020
A protests participant. He was shot dead by security officers near Pushkinskaya metro station in Minsk on August 10, 2020.
3. Aliaksandr Vikhor, 25 y.o., died 08.12.2020
A protests participant. He died in unconfirmed circumstances while being in detention by law enforcements in city of Homel on August 12, 2020. His body had multiple bruises and fractures.
4. Alialsandr Budnitski, 53 y.o., died 08.31.2020
A factory worker. He disappeared in Minsk on August 11 at unconfirmed circumstances. His death was reported only on August 31. According to the official version, he died from alcohol poisoning.
5. Anatol Krasouski, 47 y.o., died 09.16.1999
A businessman and a friend of the former Head of State Election Committee Victar Hanchar. They were last seen next to Krasouski's Jeep Cherokee at 10:35 pm on September 16, 1999 when they left sauna. They were kidnapped and never seen again.
6. Andrey Zaytsau, 24 y.o., died 12.20.2001
A public figure in the city of Gomel, a member of the ZUBR resistance movement. On December 20, 2001 he committed suicide. In his suicide note he noted that the Belarusian Special Service was to blame for his death.
7. Artsiom Parukou, 19 y.o., died 08.16.2020
A protests participant. On August 16, 2020 he was hit by a car on Partyzanski Avenue in Minsk.
8. Dzianis Kuzniatsou, 41 y.o., died 10.03.2020
A former prison warden. On September 29, 2020 he was taken to the hospital emergency room from the detention center on Akrestsina Street in Minsk. He had numerous bruises and injuries, and an open craniocerebral trauma. He died in hospital on October 3, 2020.
9. Dzmitry Stakhouski, 18 y.o., died 05.25.2021
An orphan. He was accused of participating in “mass riots” in August of 2020. On May 25, 2021 he committed suicide. In his suicide note he blamed the Belarusian Investigative Committee for placing constant pressure on him.
10. Dzmitry Zavadski, 27 y.o., DIED 07.07.2000
A journalist and cameraman of Russian ORT TV Channel. From 1994 to 1997 he was the personal cameraman of the Belarusian President. He disappeared on July 7, 2000 under indistinct circumstances when he arrived at Minsk National Airport to meet his friend and colleague Pavel Sheremet. He was presumably kidnapped and murdered in 2000.
11. Hienadź Karpienka, 50 Y.O., died 04.06.1999
A Belarusian scientist and an important politician in opposition to president Alexander Lukashenko in the 90s. He was considered as the leader of the Belarusian opposition and the most probable opposition candidate for the upcoming presidential elections of 2001. On March 31, 1999 Karpienka was taken to the Minsk 9th City Hospital with an apparent cerebral hemorrhage, and no prior history of such health problems. He died on April 6 at 7 am.
12. Henadz Kisel, 50 Y.O., died 08.12.2020
A worker of "Belaruskaliy" factory. On August 12, 2020 a KGB guard Leanid Shtaida stabbed him to death in the neck with scissors during a politically motivated conflict.
13. Henadz Shutau, 44 Y.O., died 08.11.2020
A truck driver. A protests participant. He was shot dead by an army officer in plainclothes Raman Haurylau on August 11, 2020 in the city of Brest. No charges were pressed against Raman Haurylau.
14. Kanstantsin Shyshmakou, 29 Y.O., died 08.18.2020
An election commission member in the city of Vaukavysk. He is known for having refused to sign the official election protocol. On August 15, 2020 he did not return home after work. On August 18 he was found hanged in the woods. According to the Belarusian authorities, he committed suicide. However his family and friends do not believe he could have done it.
15. Mikita Kryutsou, 29 Y.O., died 08.22.2020
A worker at a saw mill, a football fan, and a protests participant. On August 11, 2020 he went missing on his way to work in Minsk. On August 22, 2020 he was found hanged in the woods.
16. Pavel Sharamet, 44 Y.O., died 07.20.2016
A Belarusian-born journalist who worked in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. He died in a car explosion in Kyiv on July 20, 2016. The Ukraine Prosecutor’s Office said the explosion was caused by a bomb and classified the journalist’s death as a murder, in which investigation is ongoing till this day.
17. Raman Bandarenka, 31 Y.O., died 11.12.2020
A former member of Belarusian special forces, a designer, a manager. On November 11, 2020 he was abducted from the Minsk-based "Square of Changes" by law enforcements in plainclothes, who were cutting down white-red-white ribbons in the off street yard. He was supposedly beaten on their way to the Central District police department, where he spent about two hours. He was then brought to the hospital neurosurgery unit unconscious with severe head injuries. Roman slipped into a coma and died on November 12, 2020.
18. Siarhei Radchenia, 36 Y.O., died 09.25.2020
A worker of "Vitalyur" store. On September 18, 2020 he set himself on fire on the porch of the police department in the town of Smaliavichy. He passed away on September 25, 2020.
19. Siarhei Shchatsinka, 57 Y.O., died 12.11.2020
A protests participant. He was detained on November 12, 2020 in the town of Asipovichy and then sentenced to 10 days in jail. According to his family, he contracted COVID-19 in the remand prison and died on December 11, 2020. Official cause of death is unknown.
20. Stanislau Chur, 31 Y.O., died 08.19.2020
A worker of Minsk Electrical Engineering Plant. A protests and factory strike participant. On August 19, 2020 he hanged himself on the premises of the factory, where he worked.
21. Veronika Cherkasova, 45 Y.O., died 10.20.2004
An investigative journalist of an independent opposition newspaper. She published several articles on illegal arms trade between Lukashenko and Iraq. She was stabbed to death in her Minsk apartment on October 20, 2004.
22. Viktar Hanchar, 42 Y.O., died 09.16.1999
Belarusian Politician and former Head of the State Election Committee. He and his friend - businessman Krasouski - were last seen next to Krasouski's Jeep Cherokee at 10:35 pm on September 16, 1999 when they left sauna. They were kidnapped and presumably murdered in 1999.
23. Vitaly Shyshou, 26 Y.O., died 08.03.2021
A Belarusian activist. He was the head of the Belarusian House in Ukraine, an organization which helps people escape repression in Belarus following the 2020-2021 Belarusian protests. Vitaly went missing from his home in Kyiv and was found dead, hanging from a tree in a park near where he lived.
24. Vitold Ashurak, 50 Y.O., died 05.21.2021
A political and ecological activist. A protests participant. He was arrested on September 19, 2020. In January he was sentenced to a five-year imprisonment. On May 21, 2021, the authorities informed the relatives of his death allegedly caused by cardiac arrest. The circumstances of his death are not clear.
25. Yury Zakharanka, 47 Y.O., died 05.07.1999
A former Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus and oppositional politician. A member of the governing board of the United Civic Party of Belarus. He had strong support among top officers in the army and in KGB. Zakharanka was a dangerous enemy for Lukashenko. Yury was abducted on May 7, 1999 by his apartment building and most likely killed.