Latushka: I cannot rule out that Melnikava might have fallen into a special services trap at some stage

The politician noted that the Polish Internal Security Agency is still investigating a criminal case, initiated by the prosecutor's office, concerning the violent deprivation of Melnikava's liberty. Within this case, the missing speaker has the status of a victim.

"Everything else can be an assessment, speculation," Latushka said.

According to Latushka, known facts indicate that Melnikava "always took a very concrete and open stance against [Aliaksandr] Lukashenka's regime." He emphasized that it was thanks to her personal efforts that the Polish Senate recognized the Coordination Council as the Belarusian parliament in exile in January 2025, and that a PACE resolution was adopted on the non-recognition of Lukashenka as president of Belarus after the "elections" in 2025, and on the recognition of the CC, the United Transitional Cabinet, and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

She also paid for a conference on Lukashenka's responsibility for crimes with her own money when the USA refused to fund it. Therefore, in Latushka's opinion, Melnikava's activities "definitely did not correspond" to the interests of Belarusian special services.

"I cannot state who she was. I rule nothing out. I will only state the facts. She was a member of our team, which is effectively working to bring Lukashenka to justice and, for the first time in history, led to the start of an investigation by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court," Latushka said.

According to him, she theoretically could have stopped or hindered many initiatives that interfered with the interests of Belarusian and Russian special services, but she did not do so.

"Moving from facts to speculation, I cannot rule out that at some stage she might have fallen into a trap set by the special services. What happened next, I do not know. The investigation is being conducted by official Polish authorities, who may know more about this," he said.

Regarding the appearance of photos of Melnikava from Minsk, Latushka does not rule out that this was done specifically before the visit of US President's special envoy John Cole to Minsk. However, according to him, the photos show only "a person very similar to Anzhalika," who may have been photographed in Belarus, and "everything else is speculation."

Overall, the politician does not rule out the appearance of propagandists' interviews with Melnikava, with the aim, among other things, of discrediting the elections to the Coordination Council.

Latushka noted that Belarusian democratic forces do not have the right to conduct their own counter-intelligence activities on the territory of EU countries – this is the exclusive competence of local special services. Nevertheless, Melnikava's identity was verified with the help of "BYPOL" and "Cyberpartisans." In addition, she passed verification by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration and intelligence services of Poland before obtaining Polish citizenship.

According to him, Belarusian democratic forces "face the greatest resistance in their history and actions aimed at destabilizing and discrediting our work by Lukashenka's regime's special services." Latushka referred to "one Polish minister" who told him that "80% of Lukashenka's special services' efforts are aimed precisely at destroying and destabilizing the democratic forces of Belarus." It is impossible to resist this on their own, the politician said.

History of Disappearance

By March 2025, Anzhalika Melnikava had, through several operations, transferred the entire grant amount for the Coordination Council (about 107 thousand dollars) to her personal account, as well as all remaining funds in the account, including those designated for "Partisan Telegram" projects and assistance in journalistic investigations (about 30 thousand dollars).

In total, Melnikava withdrew more than 150 thousand from the account; the last operation was performed on March 24, 2024. The next day, the 25th, she stopped communicating.

Later it became known that the former CC speaker left the territory of Poland and the European Union on February 26, 2025 – via Great Britain and Sri Lanka, she arrived in the United Arab Emirates, where her traces were lost. Before that, she communicated with colleagues from the Coordination Council via video calls, did not attend personal meetings: she said she was ill.

Investigators also report possible connections between Melnikava and Belarusian KGB officer Aliaksei Labeyeu. Back in 2022, she allegedly failed the first polygraph test conducted by the BYPOL initiative, but was accepted after the second test. Former Polish counterintelligence officer Hanna Grabowska-Siwiec believes that Melnikava might have been recruited while still in Belarus. Currently, a reward of 10,000 euros is offered for information about her whereabouts.

Almost a year later, on March 19, 2026, photos appeared of a woman resembling Melnikava in one of Minsk's gyms, which only started operating in January 2025. It's difficult to say if these photos are real or a deepfake, which isn't very difficult to create in today's conditions.

However, after their publication, "Nasha Niva" reached out to Melnikava's relatives. The father of the former CC speaker assured that she has been living in Belarus "for quite some time," "she hasn't disappeared, she's alive and well." According to the man, his daughter asked him not to call her and always calls herself, but from a hidden number. Their last conversation took place in winter.

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