The ex-head of the Irkutsk community of Belarusian culture was detained

The former head of the Irkutsk community of the Belarusian culture of Oleg Rudakov and his wife Olga were detained in Belarus, the Human Rights Office of Vasna reports .

What is charged with is still unknown.

The last entry on Rudakov’s page on VKontakte was made on August 20: he and Olga visited their Belarusian relatives. According to human rights activists, recently they themselves lived in Polotsk.

Rudakov in 1996 created and for 17 years led the Irkutsk community of Belarusian culture. This is one of the largest and most active Belarusian communities in Russia. His creators called his goal "revival and development of the spiritual and cultural values of Belarusians."

In 2013, Rudakov left the post of chairman of the association and took up the development of the Irkutsk Youth Club Krivichi. His activity was also aimed at "popularizing traditional Belarusian culture in Irkutsk and the Irkutsk region."