Former Belarusian political prisoner on trial in Lithuania for preparing to murder Kremlin opponents. Faces up to life imprisonment
Vadzim Duboyski was part of a terrorist group that spied on Kremlin opponents to kill them.
Vadzim Duboyski. Photo here and below — his social media
Just five years ago, human rights activists saved Belarusian punk musician Vadzim Duboyski from extradition from Russia. He wrote from the Belgorod pre-trial detention center that upon returning to Belarus, he could be killed or maimed. The European Court of Human Rights halted the extradition, Duboyski was released and eventually made his way to Lithuania. There he received political asylum and a permanent residence permit.
Now, the 36-year-old Belarusian is behind bars again — this time in Lithuania. His name appears as part of an organized terrorist group that, according to the investigation, was preparing to kill two people: Lithuanian public activist Valdas Bartkevičius and Russian opposition figure Ruslan Gabasov, one of the leaders of the Bashkir national movement.
Investigators are not disclosing what actions each of the six defendants is accused of. The trial will be held behind closed doors. The first hearing is scheduled for October 9.
Among Duboyski's acquaintances, the news caused shock. Natalia Kalehava, head of the "Dapamoha" (Aid) organization and the Belarusian "Zamak" (Castle) for refugees, where he lived for some time after arriving in Lithuania, says she knew Vadzim as a creative, seemingly harmless, but impulsive and emotionally unstable person. She does not believe that he could have knowingly joined a conspiracy for a political assassination.
"If they told me he got into trouble because of marijuana, I might believe it. But that he consciously built some scheme and prepared a terrorist act — no," says Natalia Kalehava.
Detention in Brest and escape to Russia
Vadzim Duboyski is a musician, guitarist for the Brest hardcore punk band Vagitta. In August 2020, he was detained after protests in Brest.
At the police station, Duboyski was beaten and released a day later without documentation. Due to the stress he experienced, he ended up in the hospital. After he documented the beatings, a criminal case was initiated against him under the article on mass riots. In September, he was detained again while on his way to see a doctor.
In October 2020, Duboyski fled to Russia. But it did not become safe for him. On April 12, 2021, the Belarusian was detained near the Ukrainian border when he tried to cross it outside a checkpoint to seek asylum. The Belarusian was placed in a pre-trial detention center in Belgorod. Minsk demanded extradition.
In one of his letters from the detention center, Duboyski wrote:
"What scares me most is that they will still come for me and put me in a Belarusian prison. There, for sure, if they don't beat me to death, they will cripple me."
Vadzim's sister said that after his detention in August 2020, he was beaten and "psychologically broken." Human rights activists, the Moscow Helsinki Group, and the international organization Freemuse, which advocates for artistic freedom, spoke out in his defense. Russian "Memorial" recognized Duboyski as a political prisoner.
In September 2021, a Russian court ruled to extradite him to Belarus. The extradition had already begun when it turned out that the lawyer had filed an appeal, of which the pre-trial detention center allegedly had no knowledge. The procedure was successfully halted.
Later, the appeal court upheld the extradition decision, but a day before the hearing, the European Court of Human Rights prohibited Russia from sending Duboyski to Belarus. He was released, and in 2022, he left Russia.
"They treated him like a confused teenager"
Vadzim Duboyski arrived in Lithuania with a girlfriend he met during his escape. According to Natalia, they grew close on the road. Initially, the couple ended up in a refugee camp. From there, they sought help from "Zamak."
"I wasn't involved in their evacuation and met them already in Lithuania. Vadzim was verified by human rights activists from 'Brestskaya Vesna'. We picked them up from the camp, they lived with us for a month as a couple. Then they said they had found money for an apartment and moved out," Natalia Kalehava recounts.
After some time, the couple's relationship deteriorated. During one argument, the girl was about to leave, and Duboyski grabbed her jacket and wouldn't let her go. She contacted the police, after which the man received a suspended sentence and was forbidden to approach her.
As a result, Vadzim Duboyski ended up on the street and came back to "Zamak." Natalia Kalehava says that at that time his psychological state worsened, depression developed, and he even worked with a psychologist.
"He would hold on, then break down. He was unbalanced, could perceive something very sharply, freak out. But I never saw him lash out at someone or raise a hand. He was hot-tempered, but I didn't consider him aggressive. We treated him like a confused teenager. He could argue, leave, then reappear. But he's a good boy. As far as I know, he didn't borrow money from our people in 'Zamak' and didn't deceive anyone," says Natalia.
In "Zamak," Duboyski painted one of the rooms and created graffiti on the wall: "Long Live Belarus!". Soon he moved to an apartment. From time to time, he visited "Zamak," asking for help when problems arose.
One day, he informed Natalia that he had been caught by the police: scales were found in the apartment where he lived, leading to suspicion that Duboyski might be involved in selling marijuana. Vadzim himself said the scales were not his. Natalia doesn't know how this story ended.
Sought work as a driver and took on odd jobs
Duboyski had no stable job. He earned a living through occasional odd jobs. In an archived resume on the Lithuanian website Flagma, he identified himself as an international driver: he claimed that from 2016 to 2019, he transported goods across Europe, and had a secondary specialized education as a veterinary assistant. In May 2025, he was looking for a job as a driver in Vilnius with a salary of at least one thousand euros.
The last message from him, according to Natalia Kalehava, came in June 2025. Duboyski noticed a suspicious ad in one of the "Dapamoha" chats, promising people a salary of $120 per day and "free training," and asked her to block the message due to obvious fraud. And then he simply disappeared.
When Vadzim Duboyski stopped making contact, his acquaintances initially didn't understand what had happened. They assumed he might have received an administrative arrest due to drugs or been detained by the police for some other reason. Only later did it emerge that Duboyski was in custody in the Kaunas pre-trial detention center.
"When we found out what case he was involved in, everyone was in shock," Natalia recounts.
She contacted Vadzim's mother. According to Natalia, the woman refused to come to Lithuania and said: "If he's guilty, let him sit."
"Only the lawyer or his mother had the right to receive official information about him. But his mother didn't want to participate. Whether she writes to him now, I don't know," says Natalia Kalehava.
The case began with a tracking device under a car
The investigation into the current case began in early 2025. Ruslan Gabasov, an activist of the Bashkir independence movement living in Lithuania, found a tracking device in his car and contacted the police.
Law enforcement concluded that the man's life was in real danger. The investigation identified potential perpetrators of the assassination attempt and their accomplices, and also found that the murder of another person — Lithuanian citizen Valdas Bartkevičius, an organizer of aid to Ukraine — was being prepared.
According to the prosecution, since summer 2024, the group members collected information about future victims, including using technical means.
The main suspects were arrested in Vilnius in spring 2025 with the participation of the Aras anti-terrorist unit.
Cases against six individuals have been sent to court: Bohdan Aseev, Vadzim Duboyski, Andriy Lyapin, Ikhtiandr Karibov, Artur Vartanyan, and Vikentsiy Khapozov. These are citizens of Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Greece.
They have been charged with a range of offenses: preparing a terrorist act, participation in an organized terrorist group, recruitment and financing of terrorist activities, actions against Lithuania, illegal collection of private life data, illegal possession of software and passwords, and possession of drugs without intent to distribute. Four of the defendants are under arrest, while two others wear electronic bracelets.
Murder with a terrorist motive can carry a life sentence.
"I think he got involved in something for money"
According to Kalehava, Vadzim Duboyski might have agreed to some casual paid work without understanding the whole scheme:
"I think he got involved in something for money or through deception. Perhaps he was used, perhaps he owed someone money. He had a mess in his head, he grasped at all odd jobs. But I don't believe he had a conscious desire to terrorize Valdas or anyone else. I hope the investigation will sort everything out."
Natalia Kalehava explains her doubts with another recent story. In August 2026, funeral wreaths appeared near the office of the Vilnius company RSI Europe, which produces unmanned systems and supplies FPV drones to Ukraine. A portrait of the company's head, Tomas Milašauskas, with a black ribbon was left nearby. Almost simultaneously, a similar action took place near the office of the Czech defense company CSG.
Lithuanian authorities consider the incident a possible provocation linked to Russian special services. A Ukrainian citizen was detained in Vilnius, who, according to Lithuanian media sources, may have been hired by a Belarusian.
Natalia says that the Belarusian involved in this story is also a former Belarusian political prisoner. According to her account, he found an advertisement for a part-time job and hired another person to take the wreaths to the office. Natalia helped him find a lawyer. The man has now been released before trial and handed over to the care of "Dapamoha."
"We've had many such stories. A person finds an ad, gets hired as a courier, sometimes even thinking they're working officially, and then they're detained with some cards or other illegal items," says Natalia Kalehava.
She suggests that Vadzim Duboyski might have fallen into a similar scheme.
While Lithuania investigated the potential terrorist act, Belarusian authorities continued to persecute Vadzim Duboyski for the events of 2020. In August 2026, the Investigative Committee of Belarus initiated a special in absentia proceeding against him on charges of participating in mass riots.