"At first it was hard, but then you get used to it." Ex-Belarus national team player spent eight months in a LPP

Twin brothers Uladzimir and Mikhail Makowski started playing for the main squad of "Molodechno" at the age of 16 – a strong mid-table team in the Belarusian top league in the first half of the 90s, their story is recalled by "Tribuna".

After a couple of bright seasons, they were signed by Minsk "Dynamo" – the main force of Belarusian football at that time. And everything went well in this club. Uladzimir was recognized as the best Belarusian footballer in 1996, and Mikhail was also prominent.

In mid-1997, the brothers were signed by Kyiv "Dynamo". However, the Makowskis didn't succeed in Ukraine. Mikhail played only two matches for the main team, playing for "Dynamo-2" and "Dynamo-3". And in general, their careers rather quickly went downhill.

Towards the end of their careers, the Makowskis changed clubs like gloves. Mikhail played for Belarusian "Darida", "Gorodeya", "Smorgon", "Viliya". They failed to return to their previous level, although both were called up to the Belarus national team (Mikhail played 1 match, and Uladzimir – 28 and scored 4 goals).

Later, the brothers tried to work as coaches, but that didn't work out either. In 2018, Mikhail Makowski was appointed head coach of his native "Molodechno", but he only stayed in the position for three days.

Then he appeared drunk at a meeting with fans – and was fired. He said he was forced to work at a meat processing plant. The former footballer didn't like the job, but he couldn't find a better one in Molodechno. His alcohol problems didn't disappear.

Almost all of 2025, the former national team player spent in a so-called medical-labor dispensary (LPP).

Here's what he says about it: "Well, yes, it's true, I served time. What new can I tell you here? How are things there? Well, yes, read what they write on the internet, although they don't write anything on the internet anymore. You have to be there to know what it's like," says 48-year-old Mikhail.

He served his sentence in LPP No. 8 in the city of Ivatsevichy. Previously, the building housing the institution was used as a penal colony. In 2023, by Lukashenka's decree, it was reformed.

Makowski was sent to the Brest region because the LPP of the Minsk region, located in Dzyarzhynsk, was overcrowded. In total, the former footballer spent 8 months in custody, although he received a sentence of 1 year.

"I was released on parole. Molodechno 'Metallurg', which is going to play in the regional futsal championship, wrote a letter of guarantee that I will no longer break the law. Now I live in Molodechno, I need to recover my strength, there [in the LPP] they morally destroy you a lot," Mikhail says.

He doesn't have his own housing in Molodechno – he has to rent. He once had his parents' apartment, but a story happened with it that led to a quarrel with his brother and several years of mutual ignoring. Mikhail claims that Uladzimir sold the housing without his consent. Now this conflict is in the past. For a while after being released from the LPP, Mikhail lived in Minsk with his brother, but then returned to his small homeland.

Mikhail Makowski says nothing about his new job, except that it is "not related to football." He says that the reason for getting into the LPP was three arrests for being drunk within one year.

"I walked out onto the street, past the officers. They said: come here. I approached, they told me to breathe – I breathed. It turns out to be the third time – that's all.

I didn't "show up" anywhere after that. They found me when I got a job with a private entrepreneur: they needed to check my data – sent it to the police department. Soon a local officer came for me," Mikhail says.

His trial was quick – with a sentence of one year in the LPP. The former footballer filed an appeal, but to no avail.

"I said that I had been treated, was living with a woman, had a job. They said there were no reasons to overturn the decision. The reason could have been some illness or disability."

Makowski doesn't want to recall his time in the LPP.

"At first it was hard, but then you get used to it. You leave in the morning, return in the evening. We were such free labor: we traveled around collective farms, around enterprises. Some people from the LPP are not released – they work in the industrial zone."

Mikhail says that even in the LPP he followed "Molodechno", which returned to the top league after 21 years of absence, but only stayed for one season.

Today Mikhail dreams of returning to big football.

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