Former political prisoner found a side job in a chat in Vilnius — and ended up facing criminal charges for provocations against Ukraine
Mikita Saidau was asked to bring a funeral wreath to the Vilnius office of a defense company. And also a portrait of its head with a black ribbon.
On August 27, funeral wreaths and a portrait of its head, Tomas Milašauskas, with a black ribbon were left near the Vilnius office of the defense company RSI Europe. Everything was filmed on video, which soon began to spread on social networks and Telegram channels. Almost simultaneously, similar wreaths appeared near the office of the arms company CSG in the Czech Republic.
In Lithuania, a citizen of Ukraine who brought the wreaths was detained. According to Lithuanian media sources, he could have been hired by a Belarusian.
"Nasha Niva" learned that the Belarusian involved in this story is 23-year-old former political prisoner Mikita Saidau. The young man was released pending trial, and is now living in "The Castle".
Promised 400 Euros and Wrote About a Deceased Friend
Mikita Saidau found an advertisement in one of the chats offering side jobs, says Natallia Kaliehava, head of the charitable organization "Dapamoga".
The client explained that his friend had died, and he himself was not in Lithuania, so he needed someone to buy funeral wreaths and take them to the specified address.
Apparently, 400 euros were offered for the job. Part of the money was supposed to go for the wreaths themselves, and the rest remained with the executor.
Saidau, according to Kaliehava, did not deliver the wreaths to RSI Europe himself. He passed the side job to an acquaintance who completed the order. Natallia says that the portrait of the company's head with a black ribbon was delivered later by another person — Natallia is not acquainted with this woman and has no exact information about her role.
RSI Europe, to whose building the wreaths were brought, produces unmanned systems, supplies FPV drones and remote detonation systems to Ukraine. According to Natallia Kaliehava, Saidau did not know what the company did.
After his acquaintance's detention, he left for Latvia
When the person who delivered the wreaths was detained, Mikita Saidau got scared and fled to Latvia.
Mikita's friends informed Kaliehava about the incident. They couldn't contact him and knew that the police had come to one of the guys from their group. Natallia Kaliehava found Saidau and convinced him to return.
"I said: 'You must come. If you consider yourself innocent, you cannot run.' He returned from Latvia and voluntarily went to the police," she recounts.
For some time, Mikita Saidau was in custody; Natallia Kaliehava found him a lawyer.
The young man is suspected of assisting another state in activities against Lithuania. This is Article 118 of the Criminal Code of Lithuania. Its first part provides for two to seven years of imprisonment.
Mikita has now been released pending trial.
At 19, he ended up in Zhodzina prison
This is Mikita Saidau's third criminal case in his life. Belarusian security forces detained him on August 8, 2022 — initially on an administrative case, then it escalated to a political criminal charge. The young man was held in prison No. 8 in Zhodzina until trial.
Saidau was tried for participating in post-election protests under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code. At the time of the "crime," the young man was a minor.
Simultaneously, he was charged with illegal drug trafficking without intent to sell — Part 1 of Article 328 of the Criminal Code.
In December 2022, Saidau was sentenced to two and a half years of restricted freedom. He decided to leave, and by January 2023, he was in Lithuania.
"He came out of Belarusian prison — and had to become an adult immediately"
Natallia Kaliehava met Saidau after his escape from Belarus. Even before crossing the border, the young man's friends contacted "Dapamoga" to confirm his identity and ask for a place in "The Castle": they feared that otherwise, he would end up in a refugee camp.
"We checked him through mutual acquaintances. When the Lithuanian services asked if we would take him, I replied: 'Yes.' For a while, he lived with us, then he left. We helped him with documents," Natallia recounts.
In Lithuania, Saidau received political asylum. He took on various jobs, traveled to Spain for work. Natallia describes him as a quiet and calm young man who struggled to understand the rules of life in a new country.
"Mikita is a normal, calm young man. He has a normal circle of friends — Belarusians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians. When he was in custody, his friends didn't abandon him: they collected money, brought food and cigarettes.
When he went to prison in Belarus, he was 19 years old. At that age, people are just learning to make their own decisions. And he came out without an education, without a profession, without life experience — and almost immediately found himself in emigration, where he had to find work himself, pay for living, deal with insurance and documents," Natallia Kaliehava reflects.
According to her, many young Belarusians who had to urgently flee the country found themselves in a similar situation. In a new country, they often can only claim difficult and low-paying jobs, and alongside ads for construction, warehouse work, or delivery, they come across offers to quickly earn a few hundred euros.
"Dapamoga" has now opened a fundraiser for Mikita's lawyer.
The investigation into the wreath incident continues. Law enforcement officials are determining who organized the action and how the incidents in Lithuania and the Czech Republic are connected.
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