Founder of wine company sentenced in Minsk for donations in support of Ukraine

Kanstantsin Kharytonenka was born in 1968 in Minsk. In 1990, he graduated from the Faculty of Automated Control Systems of the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (MVIZRU SPA, now — Military Academy).

From 1990 to 1993, he served in military unit 06534 in the 219th anti-aircraft missile regiment of the air defense forces, which was located in the village of Pervomayskoye (Pervomayskoye-1) on the Karelian Isthmus, in the Vyborg district of the Leningrad region.

Later, the man transitioned to the civilian sector. After working as an employee, Kanstantsin headed the Minsk company "DnyaproStal" for almost ten years, from 2005 to 2014.

Since May 2018, Kharytonenka became co-founder and head of the Polish company Geowine sp. z o.o., which is based in Warsaw and engaged in importing Georgian wines to Poland.

He was arrested last year. Kanstantsin was tried in the Minsk City Court under Part 2 of Article 361-3 of the Criminal Code ("financing or other material support for the participation of citizens in military actions on the territory of a foreign state"). He faced 5 to 10 years of imprisonment.

Usually, under this article, Belarusian security forces prosecute for donations to Belarusian volunteers in Ukraine or for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or ordinary Ukrainians.

Mass political repressions in the country began after 2020. Then Alexander Lukashenka lost to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya but did not cede power to her, instead forcing her to leave the country. Mass popular protests against the dictatorship and election fraud took place. The authorities responded with repressions.

According to estimates by the security forces association "Belpol" and human rights defenders, the names of at least 10050 people who have faced politically motivated criminal cases are known. In total, various political repressions (criminal cases, administrative charges, dismissals, searches, forced emigration) have affected hundreds of thousands of Belarusians. 

The Belarusian authorities consider "extremism" to be the demand for free elections with transparent vote counting, as well as virtually any criticism of the authorities, pro-Russian historical narratives, expressions of solidarity with Ukraine, and anti-war protests. 

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