Two years have passed since the beginning of the mass protests in Belarus. Then, in August 2020, Belarusians demanded that the authorities hold new elections, this time fair ones, release all the detained protesters and bring those responsible for the beatings and torture that took place in detention centers across the country. Today it must be admitted that none of the demands were met – there are more than 1,200 political prisoners behind bars, and the repression continues. DW spoke to Belarusians who participated in the first protests to learn how their lives have changed in these two years and if they regret taking the risk of disagreeing with the authorities in August 2020.

“Women changed the course of the protest”

Kristina Drobysh was an actress at the Yanka Kupala National Academic Theater in Minsk. Looking back on hot August 2020, she says the situation was so heated that it was impossible to just sit back and pretend it didn’t concern me: “I didn’t think if I should go out to protest, I thought if others would come And the strongest memory is on 12 August, when women in white gathered in Komarovka. There was a feeling that we were just in a hopeless darkness that we couldn’t get out of. The women became hope and changed the course of the protest.”

The next day, August 13, residents of Kupala launched an appeal asking the authorities to release the detainees after the elections, threatening to go on strike. “Of course, at that moment it was scary – leaving the theater, losing one’s home. I assumed that the authorities might destroy Kupalovsky, which it turned out to be. We were not forgiven for our protest, but it would be worse to be silent,” recalls Kristina. “We were taught “Kupalovsky is not just a theater, it is a Belarusian family and national pride. We did everything right to save the theater’s reputation in the future. Even if we don’t expect changes in our lives, history will remember that in the darkest times, in 2020, when the world was divided into black and white, Kupalovsky stayed true to his principles and stood with the people. For me, that’s very important.”

It was impossible to continue theatrical activity in Belarus, so most Kupalovites left the country and created an independent troupe. Kristina Drobysh played in several performances, two months ago she left the project and focused on dubbing Belarusian books in the project “Knіzhny voice”.

“I know I did everything right and I’m not going to torment myself for the rest of my life because I chickened out in 2020. I don’t want to ask myself these questions. Big changes aren’t easy,” says Drobysh. “In 2020 and 2021 in Belarus people were killed, thousands are behind bars. And now to say, ‘Guys, maybe we got carried away then?’ Because of these people, I can’t even allow such a thought. It was not in vain, I promised myself then, in 2020.

“How are you going to beat up your neighbor today and drink vodka with him tomorrow?”

In the Belarusian city of Volkovysk in August 2020, about 5,000 residents came out to protest, about 10% of the total population. The city has never seen anything like it, either before or after the elections.

City residents meeting at the Volkovysk regional executive committee, August 2020

“I’ve been waiting for this since 2001,” says Andrey (we didn’t give his last name at his request). most important thing in life, that we deserve better and have the right to choose power. In 2020, I was pleasantly surprised that Belarusians finally woke up (…) I have never seen anything like this in my life, it was a pleasant shock.”

Arrests in Vawkavysk, as throughout the country, began immediately after the presidential elections. This further intensified the dissidents.

“We had an attempt at dialogue with the local authorities, when people came to the executive committee, employees came out to answer our questions. This also never happened before or after that”, Andrey remembers. Relations with security forces. a big city, Minsk or Grodno, people may not know who these cops are. But here everyone knows each other. Well, how are you going to beat up your neighbor today and drink vodka with him at the christening tomorrow? Of course, I didn’t have a gesture like in Minsk. I myself was in the “days”, so I know what I’m talking about. By the way, I was released ahead of schedule thanks to that rally in the district executive committee, where city residents demanded that the authorities release people. And what is even more surprising, the regional court declared my arrest unlawful. I will say more, already in 2021, when the police arrived at the Mova Nanova meeting, where the participants and the organizers were detained, they, out of shame, could not face us all the intelligentsia of the city gathered there, pen Zionerki embarrassed them, saying , how is it possible to do this to your people, and they simply remained silent in response.

In Belarus Andrei had a job, a house, a family and big plans for the future. Now he is building a new life in Poland. “I had to drop everything when I found out the KGB was interested in me, and if I don’t get out, I won’t be locked up for a ‘day’. But I don’t regret anything and I don’t. I think it was all in vain. Now is a difficult time, but the victory will be ours.”

Andrey Sharendo with his wife Polina

“The events of 2020 will be significant for the history of Belarus”

Andrei Sharendo participated in protests until 2020, he was an activist in Brest. But that year, he admits, was a turning point.

“From the way the electoral campaign went, it was clear that the elections could not be considered fair”, he says. “That’s why everyone who was against the current government understood that on August 9 they would take to the streets (…) The columns were formed in various parts of the cities, they were quickly dispersed, the security forces used stun grenades. Several hundred people were detained overnight. On the morning of August 10th, it looked like nothing would happen, but in the evening Brest “exploded” again – young people gathered in the center of the city and other dissidents began to join them “People immediately started to mate, then went out to the In response, police began blocking traffic across the city. Security forces with shields tried to disperse the crowd, at first they acted uncertainly, a skirmish followed. Then stun grenades flew, the security forces started shooting at the protesters with rubber bullets, as will become known later, of Czech production. actions in Minsk, they usually used small rubber bullets there, in Brest they always shot large ones, about 5 cm in diameter. It must be said that OMON and special forces soon arrived to help the police. It is clear that the forces became unequal, given the degree of weaponry of the security forces. Thus, the protesters were deployed ersos.”

In Brest, observes Andrei, there are no city-forming companies that could become the center of the protest, as was the case in Grodno – “Azot”, in Zhlobin – BMZ or in Minsk – MTZ. “Our core of protest was young people who decided to defend their rights. Therefore, the reaction of the authorities afterwards was so radical. Workers can be pressured to resign, ordinary people who don’t have these connections are more difficult to threaten. As a result , the first mass criminal case It was in Brest that the riots broke out, and then the so-called “dance case” was started, the most massive in the country, more than 80 people involved in it.

Andrey himself managed to visit the “days” in August. Then there was a criminal case – both against him and against his wife Polina. A year ago, Andrei managed to escape house arrest and went secretly to Lithuania. Polina received two years in prison for insulting government officials, including Lukashenka, as well as threatening violence against security forces. In the colony, a new criminal case was opened against her for violating the regime, another year was added to the deadline and sent to a colony of repeat offenders.

“In August, I saw Belarus as it should be – hundreds of flags in the city, hundreds of thousands of Belarusians on the march. In a short time, our people have changed,” says Andrei Sharendo. “Yes, the repressions started soon, which didn’t ignore our family either. But “To regret? I am sure that the events that started in 2020 will have a meaning for the history of Belarus. The changes continue, it is impossible to finish in two years. The authorities under pressure managed to bring down the protests, but the mood of the people did not change.”