Protasevich vs Tikhanovsky. What happened to Belarusian hope

Protasevich vs Tikhanovsky. What happened to the Belarusian Nadezhda

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After an interview with the former editor-in-chief of the Belarusian Opposition Telegram channel of Nexta, Roman Protasevich Ksenia Sobchak in the fall of 2024, many considered him and continue to consider Alexander Lukashenko’s personal trophy in the war with his own people. And I also thought then: is it ethical to interview the prisoner?

But you know what I understood later? Interview Sobchak with Protasevich is not a humiliation on the camera. At least not humiliation for humiliation. This, if you want, is a video recording of the victim and the circumstances of the crime. Because what was done with Protasevich is a crime.

I know that under this video comments will certainly appear that I urge you to sympathize with a scoundrel, a wimp, a traitor. But I do not urge: in the end, sympathy is a personal choice of everyone and a too expensive resource for me to decide for you where to spend it. But I myself sympathize with his pains. I want to tell you in detail the story of a simple guy Roma, who sincerely wanted to be a hero - and what came of it.

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A schoolboy obsessed with demons

So who he is. Roman Protasevich was born on May 5, 1995 in Minsk - Alexander Lukashenko by that time had been the president of Belarus by that time. The father of the novel - the reserve lieutenant colonel Dmitry Protasevich, worked as a senior teacher of the department of ideological work of the Military Academy. That is, the family was ideologically sustained. But the son went across. Even at school age, he began to show all disagreement.

For example, the story of how the schoolboy Roma Protasevich produced the concert “Lyapis Trubetskoy” in Minsk, and Lyapis himself did not even know about this. Protasevich published VKontakte a post in which he asked people to confirm their intention to come to the group’s hypothetical concert. Lyapis Trubetskoy was already in disgrace, the group’s concert in Minsk seemed something on the verge of fantasy. But the novel said that if 100 thousand people are typing, then the concert will certainly take place: “There will be 100,000 potential spectators - there will be negotiations with musicians. <...>. If there are 100,000 or more of us, then we ensure the safety of musicians ourselves. It is unlikely that in Belarus there are some structures that will be decided on a power confrontation with such a huge mass of people. ”

Parents, of course, did not approve of the hobby of the guy of all this motion. Protasevich later said that his mother even tried to drag him to the exorcism session. I thought, probably, that my son was obsessed with demons. But, as the future showed, completely different people were obsessed with demons.

In July 2011, the novel was detained for participating in the "silent protest" - there was such an action in Minsk, organized through social networks: the Belarusians gathered in a certain place, and there either silently clapped their hands, or in the crowd went in the same direction. By the way, I then came to Minsk and wrote to the New Gazeta about these promotions. That's how it looked .

The police really did not like it. Adults were thrown into autozaki, and - literally - children. The novel also came across and was excluded for this from the lyceum of the Belarusian National Technical University - one of the most prestigious schools in the city.

Now, as his mother told about this: “The director first called me and said that he was being removed from the presidential award, there were further calls. In general, we decided that we need to take documents from the lyceum. And hell began: not a single school accepted it. I was offered to send Roma to home schooling, I asked: "Is he, mentally retarded with me?" No, they answered, he is socially dangerous "

The certificate of Protasevich received already at a regular school. Then he entered the Institute of Informatics and Radio Electronics, but was quickly disappointed in computer sciences and went to the Belarusian State University for the journalism faculty, to correspondence.

He could calmly study at the daytime department, since he brilliantly passed the entrance ones - however, he decided to work and study in absentia.

Roman combined his studies at BSU with activities in the “Young Front” - a large Belarusian informal youth association opposed to the Lukashenko regime. It was then that he began to try himself as a blogger, led political groups in social networks, coordinated shares. With all this activity, it is not surprising that they also kicked out of the University of Protasevich. According to him, this happened for political reasons.

The journalism factory of BSU by that time had already become a factory for preparing rather propagandists than journalists. Being a student, Protasevich openly opposed this, constantly started acute discussions with teachers. In the fourth year, he won the Vaclav Gavel scholarship, this gave him the opportunity for 9 months to first leave for an internship in Europe, then to America. I had to return to the winter session, but it was expelled .

Nexta

Fearing the persecution, Protasevich left for Poland, where in January 2020 he asked for a political officer. In Warsaw, an opposition activist joined other young Belarusians, who since 2017 promoted their NEXTA channel on YouTube and the telegram channel of the same name. Initially, the guys laid out their music there. And as the situation in the country is aggravated, the guys switched to broadcasting news from Belarus.

The project played a huge role in the events of August 2020. It was a "covid" year. Belarusians, like the inhabitants of other countries, was not easy. In addition, many of them have worked in Russia for years, but because of the Locdown they were forced to stay in the republic. For Lukashenko, these were already the sixth election. Due to regular falsifications, human rights violations Belarus since the late 90s have been under various European and American sanctions. But being the main ally of the Kremlin, regularly receives loans and other economic assistance from Russia. It is difficult to say why Lukashenko’s long -standing social agreement with the people cracked: I am low -paid to you, but stability, you do not climb into politics. We will somehow make a separate analysis about this. But one way or another: in August 2020, the Belarusians did not believe in the next “e-nante”, as Lukashenko loved to express themselves, victory. And went out into the streets. Thousands. Spontaneously. In large cities and small district centers.

But Lukashenko reacted to this.

Protasevich had the experience of coordinating political actions since the time of student. Then the Belarusian authorities insisted: Ngekhta telegram channel not only illuminated what was happening in the country, but acted as a real coordinator of protests. According to the media, just one week after the election, from August 9 to 16, the NEKHT audience grew from 427 thousand subscribers to two million. It has become perhaps the most popular Russian -speaking channel in Telegram. The established feedback with readers in the field allowed the channel to quickly publish information from all over the country. So protesting Belarusians realized that they were not alone, that the shares literally go throughout the republic.

This inspired people, and the protest was worshiped. In addition, Ngehta literally became the main supplier of news about Belarus for the whole world, he was quoted by leading foreign media. At some point, the channel from the source of information really turned into a participant in the events: calls for the announcement of the public strike began to appear in it. The channel posted messages about the movement of security forces, preventing protesters; There were recommendations where they follow to gather in order to give the most severe rebuff of the police and special forces that were abandoned to suppress the demonstrations.

The chief editor of Ngekht was Roman Protasevich.

Belarusian protest

The Belarusian revolution was choked. Cruel accelerations on the streets ended with mass detentions. Without exaggeration, it was about tens of thousands of people. It became known about several dead. Opposition activists counted at least 12 death participants. For example, the riot police killed Alexander Taraykovsky, right during the protest shares, and according to the official version, a home -made explosive device worked in his hands. Another deceased - Gennady Shutov, was injured on the street in Minsk: the Belarusian security official shot him in his head from the Makarov pistol. A week later, Shutov died in the hospital. Denis Kuznetsov was scored in the prison in the surroundings. And there were many such cases. Everywhere there were raids on activists. Behind the bars were all the leaders of the Belarusian protest.

One of the first, long before the riots, was a famous Belarusian blogger and entrepreneur Sergey Tikhanovsky in the prison. A year before the election, he created his own YouTube channel “Country for Life”, where he showed how Lukashenkovskaya Belarus actually lives.

The communal problems of small towns, the poverty of peasants, who have preserved planning and fat agriculture. The impudence of Lukashenkov’s officials - there are no elections of mayors and governors in the republic for a long time, the president is essentially appointed by all of them.

In a short period of time, Tikhanovsky became so popular that the authorities were frightened by his participation in the presidential election. A criminal case was fabricated against a blogger, he was given 18 years in prison, including for an attempt to seize power. But suddenly his wife, the usual Minsk housewife Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, decided to take her husband's place. Although ... fate seemed to be preparing her for this from the very beginning.

In childhood, Light, like thousands of other Belarusian children, often went abroad. The Europeans had such a help program for children who lived in the territories polluted after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. They were invited to European families for the summer. And Svetlana became friends with one family in Ireland. She went to them for several years, learned English well. Later she graduated from the Mozyr Pedagogical Institute with a degree in English teacher. She worked in charitable foreign missions. But when in 2004 she married Tikhanovsky, she decided to devote all of herself to her husband and two of their children. But in 2020, Lukashenko outplayed everything for her in his own way.

This story, when the wife took the place of a planted husband, thundered throughout the country, and on the streets of cities they began to build entire lines of those who wanted to leave a signature in support of the nomination of Tikhalovskaya. The authorities watched what was happening with anxiety, but Svetlana was allowed to the elections.

What were the real results of voting, we probably will not recognize. But in 80%, which Lukashenko painted for himself, the Belarusians did not believe and literally went out into the streets.

On August 11, on the third day of protests, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya asked compatriots to abandon protests. She recorded this video . He was reprinted by all propaganda resources of the republic. Later, sheadmitted that she would not want to be in the world before the choice that she then faced - the video was recorded in the presence of KGB officers. Svetlana at that time was left alone with two children, and her husband was in prison. After the video, she was given the opportunity to go to Lithuania, and Tikhanovskaya became the leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile. And her husband was gripped in prison so that he could not restrain his tears, telling about the experience after his release.

Her ally, the head of the headquarters of another opposition candidate in those elections, Maria Kolesnikova also faced a difficult choice: the special services took her by force to the border. But near the border crossing, Maria defiantly broke her passport. In 2021, the court gave her 11 years old.

Relatives for about two years could not contact her. This is a characteristic feature of Lukashenkov’s repressions: the key figures of protests are in complete isolation, neither relatives nor lawyers are allowed to be allowed. This is done to demoralize activists. When a person is in a complete information vacuum, when he is told about the flight of leaders, about the betrayal of associates, about the renunciation of relatives - it is easier to break him to sign the assignment of pardon. And thereby completely depreciate his struggle.

The figures of Sergey Tikhanovsky and Maria Kolesnikova are very important in our analysis, because it is thanks to them that we now have an idea of ​​who Roman Protasevich is and why his story is worthy of a subject study.

Sophia
So, the Belarusian Maidan did not happen. Thousands of people in prisons, repressions in the country are still ongoing. Special services are looking for those who took part in promotions or simply sympathize with the opposition. According to various estimates, after the events of 2020, from 300 to 500 thousand people left Belarus. According to the Vesna human rights center, today there are more than 1,100 political prisoners there.

The NECHT audience recruited during the protests is gradually reduced. The channel will receive the second wind with the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Even now, Ngekhta is still on the list of the most popular news telegrams and YouTube channels in Russian, although the intra-Belorussian agenda in it is almost a third of the entire content.

And Roman Protasevich announces his departure from the project in September 2020. He writes on his social network that the decision is not spontaneous. Here we must recall that before his departure from Belarus, Protasevich managed to work in almost all opposition Belarusian media. So colleagues joked about him before that he was not taking root anywhere. The longest one - for a whole year - he worked only on Euroradio. But now he and the owner of the channel Stepan Putilo in Belarus are defendants in criminal cases about the organization of riots.

Later, planted under the sofits of propaganda Belarusian studios, the novel, barely restraining tears, will tell, as he did not notice the influence of the foreign special services on the work of NECHT and was actually a toy in their hands. For what, again - according to his version - was passed into the hands of the Belarusian security forces by their former associates.

Together with him, his friend Sofya Sapga came captive to the KGBASHNIKS. Young people in May 2021 flew together from Athens to Vilnius.

Roman began to meet with Sophia back in Warsaw - she went there on the Belsat opposition channel. Sophia was born in Russia, she has a Russian passport, but from childhood she lived in Belarus - she graduated from school there, and later entered the European Humanitarian University - a popular university at thinking Belarusian youth.

Later Protasevich said that in May 2021, they and Sophia were on the verge of gap, and that they planned to part after returning from Greece. They part a little earlier, the life of both could have developed in a completely different way - after all, Sophia would not then become the subject of blackmail.

But on May 23, 2021, the Ryanair plane, on which young people flew, was forcibly planted in Minsk with the involvement of a fighter - the pilot reported a bomb on board. At the airport, all passengers were ordered to leave the liner. Of course, they did not find any bombs in the plane, but Protasevich and Sapga did not return to the salon.

In an interview with Sobchak in 2024, the novel confirms that he went to cooperate with the security forces, including to save Sophia. A few days after the detention of the telegram channel “Yellow Plums” will show a video of the girl’s interrogation in which she admits that she administered the so-called “Black Book of Belarus”. This is a project in which information about all accomplices of the Lukashenko regime, security officials who mocked the protesters, judges who sent out non -legal sentences. It was the same telegram that published a video of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya before the shoot. And this interrogation of Protasevich was also shown there.

Only the blind will not notice the bruise on the guy’s forehead and the signs of makeup. From all this, it follows with all the obviously that all these confessions were not so easily given to the novel. Well, his parents, "unknown well -wishers" reported that their son was in the hospital.

It immediately became clear that the novel would be judged by several articles: from a violation of public order to an attempt to overthrow power. In the biography of the journalist Protasevich there were trips to the Maidan, then to the Donbass. He insists that he was not a combatant, but worked as a military journalist and was even wounded. However, the Belarusian special services called him the "fighter of the Battalion of Azov" and even tried to blame him for mercenarism. But in the end, this article did not enter into a conviction.

Despite all the excitement and the severity of the charges, a month after the detention of Protasevich was released under house arrest, where he was until the verdict was announced. It was an unprecedented humanity for the cannibalist regime. In May 2023, the novel was found guilty and appointed him 8 years in prison, leaving under house arrest before the sentence entered into force. And then immediately ... pardoned.

Unlike Sophia Sapieha.

All the time, up to issuing to Russia, the girl was behind bars. The trial of it took place a year earlier than the court against her boyfriend. Sofya was given 6 years for "inciting social enmity" in Belarus and sent to the colony. In the summer of 2023, Alexander Lukashenko satisfied her petition for pardon, and the prosecutor of Belarus allowed the girl to return to Russia. She, like a souvenir from a friendly country, was taken with her by a delegation of the governor of Primorye, who was just visiting Belarus. Where Sofya Sapga is now, we do not know. But it is known that it is at least free. We hope that everything will be fine.

Rasprava
But the fate of the novel was different. Having received a pardon from Lukashenko’s hands, he remained in Minsk. Еще будучи под следствием, в августе 2021 года Протасевич объявил о создании своего авторского канала – SPRAVA, что с беларусского означает «дело». В аннотации к каналу говорится: «…это медиа о самом главном в Беларуси и вокруг неё. Здесь не будет языка вражды. Здесь не будет непроверенной информации. Здесь не будет места откровенной пропаганде».

В этом канале Протасевич – вчерашний узник режима – начал размещать информацию о судьбе эмигрантов и арестованных белорусских оппозиционеров, анонсируя их раскаяния и возможные помилования.

В первом посте, рассуждая о судьбе своих бывших соратников по – как он сам выражается – неудавшейся белорусской революции, Протасевич написал такое:

«Если практика осознания и чистосердечного признания своей вины станет успешной, стоит ожидать освобождения большего числа людей. Говоря проще, срок, в который заключённые выйдут из тюрем, зависит только от них самих. И ни от кого другого».

Почти все посты в его канале — это демонстративные, подчеркнутые насмешки над уехавшими, которых белорусская пропаганда окрестила беглыми и продолжает поносить пятый год. И вот неплохой журналист Роман как будто бы занял видное место в рядах пропагандистов: он рассказывает, как тяжело эмигрантам на чужбине, и не устает прославлять силу и милосердие Лукашенко, пишет об экономических успехах республики и неумолимом росте благосостояния беларусов.

При этом канал заявляется как его хобби. Дело, которое человек делает для души: известно, что после суда Протасевич получил специальность сварщика и какое-то время работал на Минском электротехническом заводе. Но потом ушел оттуда, как сам объяснил, по состоянию здоровья. Роман женился, живет в Минске, увлекается велосипедными путешествиями, и по последним данным, работает в доставке. Ну и попутно рассказывает в своем канале, как хорошо жить на родине, как лживо и «бездуховно» западное общество, в отличие от правления строгого, но справедливого Лукашенко.

Протасевич ездил даже в турпоездку Дубай и в теории мог бы остаться там или сбежать. Сам он говорит, что не захотел и не видел смысла. Или его свозили специально, чтобы показать миру? Или сломали настолько, что человек по-настоящему оказался в полном одиночестве и бежать было действительно уже некуда. Я думаю, что все вместе.

А еще он рекламирует работу комиссии по возвращению: каждый бежавший беларус может подать в нее заявление, чтобы выяснить, может ли он вернуться домой.

На самом деле это серьезная проблема для страны: задолго до 2020 года из Беларуси на заработки в разные страны разъехалось до полумиллиона молодых и здоровых людей. Причина та же, что и с дефицитом картошки в этом году: если строитель, водитель или врач может за свою работу получать в России в два раза больше, чем дома, то почему бы не уехать. Тем более, что для беларусов в России действует специальный миграционный режим. Они, например, могут претендовать на российское гражданство в упрощенном порядке, им не надо получать патент на работу в России, им даже не ставят отметки о пересечении границы. Поэтому всегда можно сказать, что ты приехал только вчера и 90 дней, отведенные законом на получение регистрации, еще не истекли.

Однако сила притяжения России – это еще полбеды. После подавления протестов и развернувшихся репрессий, молодежь массово побежала в Польшу и страны Балтии. Дефицит кадров в стране обострился настолько, что Лукашенко уже поговаривает о приглашении мигрантов из стран Азии и Ближнего Востока.

Протасевич его во всем этом горячо поддерживает.

Ну и еще важный момент: именно его, единственного, пускают на встречи с осужденным противниками режима.

Так в ноябре 2024 года в его канале появилась информация о Марии Колесниковой и даже ее фотографии. Это было полной неожиданностью, потому что к тому моменту связи с ней не было около двух лет. Никто – ни родные, ни защитники – ничего о ней не знали, кроме обрывочных сведений от бывших сокамерниц: жива, в одиночке, сильно похудела. Наконец Марии дали увидеться с папой, а свидетелем их встречи был обычный сварщик с минского завода Роман Протасевич.

Спустя два месяца снова «сенсационная новость»: Протасевич публикует тюремные фотографии другого пленника Лукашенко – Виктора Бабарико, о нем тоже никто ничего не знал с 2022 года.

Ну а в июне 2025 года Лукашенко совершил акт невиданного гуманизма: он освободил 14 политзаключенных, в том числе – в это невозможно было поверить! – Сергея Тихановского.

Освобождение Тихановского стало результатом негласных переговоров американцев с режимом Лукашенко. Участвовал в них и спецпосланник Трампа Кит Келлог.

И тут есть любопытная деталь: как и Путин никогда не произносил имени Алексея Навального, так и белорусский диктатор избегает произносить имя Сергея Тихановского.

Человека, который стал вдохновителем протестов и не подписал прошения о помиловании, как бы над ним не издевались тюремщики. По его словам, почти весь свой срок – 5 лет – он провел в одиночной камере. Не имея никакой связи с семьей, лишь приблизительно понимая, что происходит в стране и мире.

Но на своей первой после освобождения пресс-конференции Тихановский неожиданно рассказал вот о чем. Оказывается, и к нему в тюрьму приезжал Роман Протасевич. И тоже убеждал подать прошение о помиловании. В ходе разговора, говорит Тихановский, Роман признался, что с аналогичной миссией он был и у Марии Колесниковой. Но та не только отказалась просить милости у Лукашенко, но и отругала за посредническую миссию самого Романа, и даже попыталась его ударить.

Этот рассказ Тихановского сильно оттенил всю историю Романа Протасевича. Год назад в интервью Собчак тот честно признавался, что спустил свою репутацию в унитаз, потому что не готов был получить 25 лет тюрьмы за идеалы юности. Что давал показания на бывших соратников, чтобы в том числе спасти свою девушку – Софью Сапегу. И даже в какой-то мере такая его искренность вызывала сочувствие. Ну и правда, никто же не знает, перед каким выбором был поставлен молодой человек. Скорее всего, вслед за Светланой Тихановской можно сказать, что такого выбора не пожелаешь в этой жизни никому.

Но теперь-то Протасевич перед таким страшным выбором уже не стоит. Или отрабатывает прежнее одолжение со стороны Лукашенко?

Дк и кто из людей, бежавших из страны, поверит парню, который открытым текстом признался: меня сломали, растоптали – я был вынужден говорить и делать все это. Кто согласится вернуться в страну, которая убеждает вот таким образом?

История Протасевича – это, безусловно, даже не драма, а трагедия. И она настолько кинематографична, что, возможно в другой, новой Беларуси о ней даже снимут фильм. Это будет фильм о человеке, который искренне хотел быть героем – но не потянул. Оказался не настолько сильным и сломался – и такое бывает, никто никогда не знает, как поведет себя под пытками. И не пытайтесь убедить меня в обратном. Но Роман Протасевич навсегда должен остаться в истории Беларуси не только как человек, сливший своих соратников, но и как тот, кто поддержал свой народ, вышедший на улицы. Тот, кто пытался спасать людей от арестов, от полицейских дубинок. Тот, кто искренне хотел другого будущего своей стране. Но просто у него не получилось.

Так бывает, что мерзавцы побеждают. Так бывает, что перед ними иногда бессильны даже герои. А потом нам показывают, что не было и самих героев. А есть просто те, кто хочет выжить.

And this is true. Но лишь отчасти. Потому что герои конечно же есть. Просто получиться у них может не сразу, не все и не здесь.

To be continued.