Shocking Loss of the Year, Mysterious Disappearances, Dick Pics, and Deportations — Key People and Events of 2025
Nasha Niva recalls who and what inspired, shocked, delighted, angered, and disappointed us this year.
Photo: Nasha Niva, project "I Want to Live"
Loss of the Year — Mikita Mielkaziorau
The Belarusian YouTube blogger suddenly died on the evening of December 20. Mikita Mielkaziorau was 37 years old. He was the most popular Belarusian interviewer — his YouTube channel "Life-Raspberry" with almost hundreds of thousands of subscribers featured interviews with Belarusian politicians and celebrities. Mikita showed: Belarusians have enough interesting personalities of their own. And this was just one of his projects. Mielkaziorau, in emigration, completely switched to the Belarusian language, setting an example for others.
What happened to the blogger is still unknown. It was reported that Mikita felt unwell on the evening of December 20. He lay down, felt better after some time. Then he got up, walked, and lost consciousness. On December 30, a farewell ceremony for Mielkaziorau took place in Warsaw.
Case of the Year — The Hayun Case
In February, security forces gained access to the "Belarusian Hayun" bot — a monitoring channel where Belarusians reported on equipment movements and drone arrivals. Security forces found the link to the chat, where messages from the bot were forwarded, on the phone of a detained activist who had been hiding in Belarus for a long time. It is unknown how much information they managed to extract and how many "Hayun" informants they identified. A couple of days later, the project ceased operations. GUBOPiK then stated that such a step would allegedly soften people's sentences.
Arrests in the "Hayun case" took place throughout the country. Viasna currently knows of 127 people who have been detained. At least 78 people have already been convicted in this case.
Process of the Year — Releases and Deportations of Political Prisoners
Belarusian political prisoners are being transported to Ukraine. In the center is Maria Kalesnikava. Photo: Ukrainian project "Khochu zhit" (I Want to Live)
This year, as a result of meetings between American diplomats and Lukashenka (Trump's envoys Kit Kellog and John Cole visited Minsk), several groups of political prisoners were released. The first group was released on June 21 — among them were Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Natallia Dulina. All were transported to Lithuania. By the same route, on September 11, 51 political prisoners (including Ihar Losik, Dzmitry Dashkevich) were transported — Mikalai Statkevich was supposed to be the 52nd, but he broke open the bus door and returned to Belarus.
The latest group to date (123 people) was released on December 13 — most were unexpectedly deported to Ukraine (including Maria Kalesnikava, Viktar Babaryka, Pavel Seviarynets, Maksim Znak, Aliaksandr Fiaduta), and several others (along with Ales Bialiatski) to Lithuania.
At the All-Belarusian People's Assembly, Lukashenka mentioned that Americans had asked him to allow people to stay in the country. He refused.
Tragicomedy of the Year — Potatoes Disappeared
In spring, almost the impossible happened — Belarus experienced a potato deficit. People massively complained that it was impossible to find marketable potatoes in stores, and prices skyrocketed. Propagandists blamed people for whining. "Oh, seven rubles." — "Well, even twenty, damn it. They're fed up with their potatoes. Just eat and eat, and just whine about it," Hryhor Azaronak shouted wildly on air.
But the authorities eventually acknowledged the problem. Aliaksandr Lukashenka instructed the State Control Committee to investigate the situation in retail chains. Seed potatoes were sent to stores to deal with the shortage. Later, it was decided to fine retail chains where there would be no potatoes.
The fact that Belarus ran out of potatoes also surprised Putin — Russia had also eaten its own potatoes and was selling imported ones.
Disappearances of the Year — Anzhalika Mielnikava and Anatol Kotau
These mysteries are yet to be revealed. The speaker of the Coordination Council, Anzhalika Mielnikava, disappeared in March. 150 thousand euros were withdrawn from the account, to which Mielnikava had access, and which received money for the Coordination Council and "Cyberpartisans". The woman's husband and children are in Belarus, but her whereabouts are unknown. Anzhalika's trace is lost in Dubai. In some flights, Mielnikava was accompanied by agent Aliaksei Labeyeu. The woman told a friend she was going to marry him.
Anatol Kotau. Photo: "Radio Svaboda"
In August, Anatol Kotau disappeared. He was once Pavel Latushka's right-hand man, but they parted ways long ago. Recently, Kotau worked for the event agency Terra Group. He flew to Istanbul, reached Trabzon, and sailed on a private yacht to Sochi. Nothing more has been heard about Kotau.
Dick Pic of the Year — Andrei Stryzhak
Photo: Siarhei Satsiuk
A scandal erupted in July — several activists accused Andrei Stryzhak, then head of the "Bysol" fund, of sending dick pics without women's consent. Andrei admitted that it happened repeatedly and said he had a sexual addiction. As a result, Stryzhak had to leave not only his leadership position at "Bysol" but also his work at the fund altogether.
Meme of the Year — Drunk Ihar
“Good day. My name is Ihar, and I’m drunk heading home,” a resident of Vitsebsk wrote on Threads and woke up famous. Thousands of people followed the fate of Ihar Varakhobau. The man was sympathized with, worried about, judged, and supported, all with immense humor. The post now has 5 million views.
Later, various brands began to offer Ihar gifts — a sofa, boots, and pajamas. And he quit his factory job and found work in the capital.
Solidarity of the Year — Aliaksei Khliastou in a Taxi and Emergency Collections for Political Prisoners
Aliaksei Khliastou. Screenshot of a video on his Instagram
When singer Aliaksei Khliastou admitted he was working as a taxi driver, Belarusians massively supported him on social media. And not only on social media — many started asking how to order a taxi specifically for Khliastou to pick them up. The singer, who ended up on "blacklists" and cannot perform, held a stream for his fans — 20 thousand people watched that broadcast.
Maria Kalesnikava, Maryna Zolatava, Pavel Seviarynets, and other political prisoners arrived in Warsaw, December 18, 2025.
When half a hundred political prisoners were unexpectedly released in September, and over 100 in December, Belarusians also mobilized and collected aid for them in less than a day. For the September group, they managed to collect 111 thousand euros, and for the December group, 250 thousand euros were donated.
Return of the Year — Siarhei Tsikhanouski
Siarhei Tsikhanouski at a rally in Warsaw, August 9, 2025. Photo: LookByMedia
The release of Siarhei Tsikhanouski came as a great surprise to everyone. Everyone thought that Lukashenka would keep presidential candidates, as his main enemies, hostage until the very end. But in June, Siarhei Tsikhanouski was released. He was hard to recognize — despite his tall stature, the blogger weighed only 79 kilograms.
His release inspired Belarusians. Tsikhanouski immediately returned to the media space and stated that he was preparing to strike the regime. He supported Sviatlana and said he would not challenge her leadership.
But the subsequent scandals caused some of the public to become disillusioned. For example, Tsikhanouski was dissatisfied that he had not received enough donations. In New York, Tsikhanouski demanded Sviatlana cancel her CNN interview to stay for a meeting with the diaspora. Loud statements about striking also remained just words.
Concert of the Year — Max Korzh
Max Korzh, August 9, 2025. Warsaw
Max Korzh gave a big concert in Warsaw on August 9. About 70 thousand people gathered at the stadium — tickets sold out in a week. Many traveled to the concert from Belarus. However, the behavior of the fans was later discussed throughout Warsaw. 109 people were detained at the concert, among them 13 Belarusian citizens. Belarusians were detained for drug possession, attempts to carry pyrotechnics, and ticket forgery. Three Belarusians were deported.
Whether it was a coincidence or not that the concert fell on the anniversary of the 2020 elections, the singer did not explain. Max Korzh now lives abroad — he has not returned to Belarus after public threats from GUBOPiK.
Grounding of the Year — Volha Bondarava
The pro-Russian informant turned out not to be so untouchable after all. In March, Volha Bondarava was imprisoned for 13 days. She was detained under an "extremist" article. "Something reposted or what," her husband explained. After her detention, the informant was expelled from the Pedagogical University.
Pazniak of the Year — Rapper Pazniax
Dzmitry Pazniak. Video screenshot: his Instagram
A regular guy from Hrodna recorded a song about Hawaiian pizza and broke the internet. Dzmitry Pazniak (pseudonym — pazniax) is 21 years old. His tracks unexpectedly amassed a million listens. The most popular is "Hawaiian Pizza". Dzmitry loves pizza with pineapples — hence the name. Dzmitry perceives his creativity as "comedy of observations." He believes that the dissonance between his appearance and rap played a significant role in his popularity. Later, Dzmitry released a collaborative track "Zhabinka-Hrodna" with Maybe Baby.
Secret Wedding of the Year — Maryna Vasileuskaya and Aleh Navitski
Cosmonaut Aleh Navitski and space tourist Maryna Vasileuskaya. Photo: Vasileuskaya's Instagram
Neither the cosmonaut nor the space tourist publicized their wedding. But the information leaked to the media, and rings resembling engagement rings were noticed on the hands of Maryna Vasileuskaya and Aleh Navitski. She is 35, he is 54. For both, this is not their first marriage. Navitski was married to his ex-wife for almost 30 years. But they parted ways unamicably — the cosmonaut kicked his wife out into the street in winter, taking their young daughter.
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Comments
Даведаліся (хто не ведаў), што многія вядомыя беларусы - звычайныя людзі, са сваімі недахопамі і памылкамі. Гэта не змяніла сутнасць супрацьстаяння з тэрарыстычнай дзяржавай і разуменне, дзе праўда.
Свет, з дапамогай Трампа, стаў горш, бліжэй да дна, на якім дзяржава Беларусь.
Людзі горш не сталі. Мае суб'ектыўныя апытанкі не паказваюць такое пагаршэнне, як у апытанках сацыёлагаў. Захоўваюцца цёплыя адносіны да беларушчыны. Сапраўдная Беларусь жыве, пакуль ціха, ў сэрцах.