At least 88 Belarusians have been detained in the “Gayun case,” a channel that reported on Russia’s war against Ukraine, writes the Viasna human rights center..

We are talking about the monitoring channel "

Analysts estimate that the total number of detainees is significantly higher, since detentions are still occurring throughout Belarus, but most of them are in the Gomel region.

Human rights activists from Viasna suggest that the number of defendants in the Gayun case could increase significantly - up to a thousand people, given the scale of arrests and inclusion in the list of "

[see_also ids\u003d"

At the beginning of February 2025, it became known that Belarusian security forces had gained access to the project’s contact database. Its director, Anton Motolko, publicly admitted the hacking, and two days later announced the cessation of the channel’s work.. The project is recognized by the Belarusian authorities as an “extremist organization”.

Anton Motolko was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison back in 2024.

Since 2020, the Belarusian authorities have been consistently increasing repression against civil society. Human rights defenders, representatives of the independent press, activists, and charities have come under pressure. In 2024, the authorities began to punish even those who show basic human solidarity - helping political prisoners and their families.

The Viasna Human Rights Center reports large-scale arrests that affected various categories of the population: elderly people, former prisoners and close relatives of those who are now behind bars.