The Great «Zubr» and the Empty Square. The Story of Andrei Pyatrou's Life

First congress of the Malady Front in September 1997. Andrei Pyatrou holds the flag.

Today, December 30, marks exactly one year since Andrei's death. Only after a year have I gathered the strength to write something meaningful in his memory. It's not just that with a personal loss, every memory pierces the heart. The time when Andrei was active as a political activist – that time is painful to recall in general.

I am referring to the 2001 election campaign and election day – September 9. But to tell the story properly, one needs to take a broader view: the late nineties – early noughties.

Andrei Pyatrou (like me; like my closest friends, and all my social circle at the time) belonged to the wave of youth activism born from the 1996 protests – the "Hot Minsk Spring": with mass rallies, mass arrests, bloody beatings of protesters, an overturned police car… On that same wave, initially as an initiative to help those arrested, for example, the now-famous human rights organization "Viasna" emerged (it was initially called "Viasna-96"); and the youth in Minsk self-organized and founded the "Malady Front" (Young Front), which very quickly spread throughout Belarus; and in September 1997, the MF held its founding congress. To understand the scale: at the founding congress of the MF, for example, Syamyon Sharetsky spoke. […]

Andrei Pyatrou was among those who joined the leadership of the Malady Front; in fact, he was one of its founders. I found a copy of "Youth Herald" with an article by Roma Kavalechuk – about the events of the congress, listing all the votes and debates; and photographs from the first congress; and even a photo of Sharetsky at the rostrum – and Pyatrou in the presidium. […]

The 1996 protests sparked a great surge, great hopes for rapid changes; the "old oppositionists" placed great hopes on the "youth"; just imagine the hall of the "Sukno" palace, full of young people from all over Belarus; I would have been hopeful too.

Time passed (with such an elegant ellipse I've outlined all my youth with a million events); changes did not happen by themselves; (but the murders of Zakharanka and Hanchar did happen); and naturally, all our expectations were focused on the next presidential elections, which were supposed to take place at the end of 2001. It seemed, "this is it!"... People would again take to the streets, 1996 would repeat... All our activist activity was, in essence, preparation for the '01 election campaign. And the closer 2001 came, the more passions flared and the intensity of discussions increased – how exactly were we to change the government?

And while the elders debated the question of "Domash or Hancharyk", in the "Malady Front" there was also a struggle – over what form election campaigning should take, and how and to whom to appeal.

When I say "struggle", I am not exaggerating. Expectations for 2001 were extremely high. Then it seemed that this was a real chance for change, because if the other side resorted to political assassinations, it meant we had to respond with resistance at the very least, and in general – to win. Punish the murderer.

Therefore, within the Malady Front, there was a real struggle over the form of the election campaign, which could even be called a split. I will not now describe those events in detail and with specific individuals – their participants, unlike Andrei, are alive and can tell their own stories. I will only note that, due to the impossibility of compromise, Andrei Pyatrou and several other people left the leadership of the Malady Front; and founded their own organization. This organization was called "Zubr".

The history of "Zubr" – the loudest, brightest, and perhaps the greatest and most popular organization (or movement) in Belarus – is almost entirely unrecorded for history.

On Wikipedia, there is only a small note about "Zubr" that says nothing; and it's impossible to find photos of the "Vremya Vybirat" (Time to Choose) stickers online. Moreover, from open sources, it's impossible to learn that Andrei Pyatrou was directly involved in the founding of "Zubr".

I understand why. Not because no one bothered to record the chronology with specific individuals. But because this is exactly how history disappears in an unfree society. Because even in this post, I will not tag any of the other participants of "Zubr". I want to snatch from oblivion and return to history someone who can no longer do it themselves.

"Zubr", founded in January 2001, very rapidly expanded its ranks throughout Belarus. I don't remember if there was an active branch of the Malady Front in Homiel, but I was impressed by the number of new faces in our "Zubr" (where did they all come from! It seemed I knew everyone in Homiel).

The campaign that "Zubr" began was called "aggressive", and "harmful" (because "zubry" drew graffiti, "and this spoils plaster and makes people angry"), and "promotional, not political" – for its bright, large stickers.

Oh, those stickers! Do you remember them? Divided into two parts: "Vremya Vybirat" (Time to Choose). There were so many of them that when I picked up a writing desk from a LiveJournal community "Addam Daram" (Giving Away for Free) in Minsk in 2012, it was covered with those very stickers – just like my own desk from my parents' house.

Can you imagine how difficult it was in 2001, without the internet, without social networks, to reach every city, every home, every person? Well, "Zubr" managed to do that.

But the main complaint against "Zubr" from former like-minded individuals was the language issue. Probably, it was the language of the election campaign that caused the split in the Malady Front. The inscriptions on the stickers were in Russian. Russian was chosen on principle – by the Belarusian-speaking founders of "Zubr" – to reach young people not involved in political resistance, which then had a clear national liberation character. And then, having come to power, to resolve political issues in a democratic way.

I want to emphasize once again how high our expectations were for 2001. Not just for "Zubr" – for everyone. I did not participate in "Zubr". I remember being at a seminar in Kyiv in the summer; and the Ukrainian participants wondered: "Are these elections really that important to you? Why?"

Well – why? We truly hoped that such an unprecedented surge of protest activity would change the government! In essence, we were expecting 2020.

I especially want to note what a big stake Pyatrou specifically made. He went into conflict and left the organization he founded – the Malady Front; he created a movement that shocked everyone with its scale and new forms of resistance – both the "old opposition" and the "regime". Now, either victory awaited him, or – …

And so, September 9, 2001. The night after the polling stations closed. Lukashenka declares his victory with 75% and an 83% turnout. And what is happening on Kastrychnitskaya Square in Minsk?

Nothing. No one came out. More precisely, a few people gathered – but there weren't even enough for a march. Compared to the expectations of mass protests, to the lightning-fast growth of "Zubr" volunteers – in fact, an empty square awaited us.

I lack words to describe my feelings that night. "Disappointment" and "apathy" are pale shadows of what I felt. It's as if after the August 2020 elections, 2021 immediately arrived – but without 2020 itself. Can you imagine if there had been no 2020 in Belarus?

So, for us, the protesters of that time, there was no "our 2020". And here we all, metaphorically, stand on this empty square, and the next day we have to start living.

The author of "Nasha Niva" wrote in a memorial article about Kasper: "Youth activism is great, but one had to earn a living for adult life". I would say it differently. Not "youth activism", but a life's work. And not "adult life" – but life under a dictatorship, which we fought against and suffered a defeat.

For me, the "noughties" were not "peaceful", "carefree", etc, etc, as they are often recalled now.

This was a time when I – like everyone who actively participated in the election campaign – had to find myself in Belarus, where no one came out to the square to protest against the falsified elections. Where it wasn't that everyone was satisfied with everything – but no one protested. And about Lukashenka's form of government, everything was already clear: about the usurpation of power, about complete lawlessness, about repression without any punishment… And what's more – repression; the murders of Hanchar, Krasouski, Zakharanka, Zavadski – and an empty square on the night after the elections… What to do? Continue the struggle? For whom? Look for a job?

Oh, "look for a job"! For example, the dean of the history faculty called me at home so I could pick up my student ID. It was very polite – no one intimidated me, didn't summon me to the dean's office where a KGB agent would be waiting for me… I almost dropped out of the law faculty of a private institute – I failed a credit in ideology; if not for other lecturers to whom I retook the exam – I wouldn't have had higher education. And how I realized in my 4th year that, unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to work as a lawyer… And that was me, one might say, not even particularly active.

But, you know, one didn't even have to be active to be unable to find a place for oneself in a dictatorship. I couldn't even write books about Belarus of that time – this accounts for 20 years of my writer's silence.

What can be said about the leaders of the resistance! Either – emigration, or… Behind this ellipsis hides my own life; but while I can call myself a marginal, a person on the fringes of society, it's awkward for me to apply such a term to others; this is a human destiny, synchronized with the fate of Belarus…

I would not like to recall the circumstances of Andrei's life after the 2001 elections; I do not have permission for that and cannot obtain it; I can say one thing for sure – it was a life not of his scale, not of his size. As was the life of all Belarus.

What kind of country would we be if we had developed over these 25 years, instead of drowning in stagnation as if in a bog!

P.S. I know what I need to manage to do. Describe the events of those times. It wasn't all in vain, was it?..

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