Ihar Mielnikaŭ is a historian, historical reconstructor, and author of books about the history of Western Belarus and people who lived near the Belarusian-Polish border.
He graduated from the History Faculty of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University (2002) and Warsaw University (2005) and earned PhD in History in 2011.
His efforts were recognized with the Vaclaū Lastoūski Award for popularizing knowledge about the history of Belarus (2014), and the Leū Sapieha Award, founded by the Center for East European Studies at the Warsaw University and the College of Eastern Europe (2021).
During the post-election crackdown in Belarus, he took the government’s side and published Collaborationism: The Anatomy of Treason (2023) and was preparing to publish Proceed to Liquidation, a book about the work of Soviet special services in post-war Belarus.
Ihar Mielnikaŭ was detained on 21 January 2024 and charged with facilitating extremist activities under Article 361.4 of the Criminal Code.
In 2024, Minsk’s Central District Court designated as “extremist” three books by the historian Ihar Mielnikaŭ: Ničyparuk P.K., Mielnikaŭ I.B. Odyssey of a Palessie Man. Minsk: Alpha-book, 2017; Mielnikaŭ, I. B. The Forgotten Corps: The History of the Polish Army on the Territory of Babrujsk Region in 1918, 1919–1920. Minsk: Alpha-book, 2018; Mielnikaŭ, I. B. On the “Border of Civilizations”. Pages of history of the Pre-War Soviet-Polish Border in Belarus Minsk: Alfa-kniga, 2020.
On September 13, 2024, the Minsk City Court issued a verdict in the criminal case of Ihar Mielnikaŭ: 4 years of imprisonment in a low-security penal colony under Article 361.4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activity).
Address for letters: Ihar Mielnikaŭ, Detention Centre No 1, Navadvorski Village Council, 143/4, 223016, Paškavičy, Minsk District, Minsk Region