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As of 28 February 2026, at least 146 cultural figures, including not less than 30 writers, were not free, either imprisoned or in home confinement.
Singer Raman Jurkoŭ was sentenced to home confinement for comments made on social media.
Mass detentions of publishers and book distributors took place in Minsk.
The founder of the cultural project Kìnakong, Andrej Kim was detained.
The publishing house Technalohija announced the closure of its operations.
The website of PEN Belarus and the organisation’s social media pages were designated “extremist”.
The social media accounts of the cultural publication Palatno and the Instagram pages of the publishing house Gutenberg Publisher were also declared “extremist”.
The children’s book by Elijaš Bart, Jah: The Legend of the Stolen Heart, was added to the list of “extremist materials”.
16 new books were added to the list of printed publications which “may harm the national interests of the Republic of Belarus,” according to the authorities.
I. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors and performers
On 18 February, it became known that pro-government singer Raman Jurkoŭ had been convicted for comments he posted online in 2020 during the mass protests. In September 2025, the Minsk City Court sentenced him under Article 130 of the Criminal Code (incitement of hostility) to home confinement.
II. Detentions of cultural figures
1. On 17–18 February, mass detentions of publishers and book distributors took place in Minsk. Searches were carried out at the homes of managers, employees, and entrepreneurs involved in book distribution. The police checked the phones of everyone present at the premises.
The Bahdanovič family was detained: spouses Alena and Vacłaŭ Bahdanovič together with their daughters Antanina and Viktoryja. They were detained in connection with their work with the publishing house Technalohija. Only Alena and Antanina Bahdanovič were released. Vaclaŭ Bahdanovič and Viktoryja Bahdanovič, authors of books in Belarusian, remained behind bars.
Translator and publisher Zmicier Kołas was arrested.
2. On 18 February Andrej Kim was detained in Minsk. The reasons for their detention remain unknown.
Andrej Kim is the founder of the Belarusian film project Kinakong (2012), which focuses on professional translation and dubbing of movies, animated films, trailers and videos into the Belarusian language, and on organising film screenings in various cities across Belarus. Kinakong became one of the best-known initiatives promoting Belarusian-language dubbing and making world cinema accessible in Belarusian. Among the full-length animated films dubbed by the project are Inside Out, Inside Out 2, Soul, Luca, and others.
III. Conditions in places of incarceration
Jaŭhien Burło, a political prisoner and musician of Tor Band, underwent surgery due to osteoporosis in both legs. He now walks with crutches and endured months of suffering behind bars, former political prisoner, journalist and blogger Ihar Łosik reported on social media. He wrote:
“He urgently needs surgery on the second leg. He cannot walk properly, and imagine what it is like to live in such a condition in a prison camp.”
IV. Closure of publishing houses
On 21 February, the publishing house Technalohija announced that it was ceasing its operations. The day before, mass detentions of publishers and book distributors had taken place in Minsk. The publishing house Technalohija was founded in 1988.
V. Designation of authors and performers’ social media as “extremist”
The Puchavičy District Court designated the Instagram page of Dzianis Zoryn “extremist material”. In 2020, Dzianis Zorin was arrested in a politically motivated administrative case and later wrote a book about the conditions of detention.
VI. Designation of cultural organisations’ websites and social media as “extremist”
1. On 6 February 2026, the Čyhunačny District Court of Homieĺ ruled to designate the website of PEN Belarus and the organisation’s social media pages as “extremist”. The following PEN Belarus pages were declared “extremist”: Facebook page “Biełaruski PEN / PEN Belarus” (https://www.facebook.com/penbelarus.org), X page (formerly Twitter) “PEN Belarus” (https://x.com/pen_belarus), Linktree page “@pen_belarus” (https://linktr.ee/pen_belarus), website of PEN Belarus (https://penbelarus.org), YouTube channel “PEN Belarus” (https://www.youtube.com/@PENBelarus), Patreon page “PEN Belarus” (https://www.patreon.com/PENBelarusBY). Earlier, PEN Belarus pages on Telegram (https://t.me/PENBelarus) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pen_belarus) had also been designated “extremist”.
2. The social media accounts of the cultural publication Palatno were declared “extremist”.
3. The Instagram pages of the publishing house Gutenberg Publisher were declared “extremist”.
VII. Designation of publishing houses as “extremist”
On 16 February, the KGB designated the Belarusian publishing house Gutenberg Publisher an “extremist formation”. The publisher’s website states:
“The European Belarusian publishing house Gutenberg Publisher has an office in Kraków. Belarusians who were forced to leave their homeland work here. We aim to create popular Belarusian books and board games. On 16 February 2026, the KGB of Belarus declared the publishing house an extremist formation. Please take this into account if you live in Belarus.”
VIII. Banned books
1. On 18 February 2026, Partyzanski District Court of Minsk ruled to add the book by Elijaš Bart Jah: The Legend of the Stolen Heart to the “List of Extremist Materials”. The children’s book tells the story of a dinosaur named Jah who fought against the invaders of his native island. Inclusion of the book in the “List of Extremist Materials” entails severe legal consequences, including administrative liability for producing, publishing, storing or transporting the banned book.
2. On 26 February 2026, 16 new books were added to the list of printed publications which, according to the authorities, “may harm the national interests of the Republic of Belarus”. The list includes works that are significant contributions to world literature and culture, among them: Victor Pelevin, Methuselah’s Lamp, or The Last Battle of the Chekists and Masons, Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles (winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Orange Prize 2012), Jean-Christophe Grangé, The Forest of the Dead. The full list of books banned in Belarus is available at: https://bannedbooks.penbelarus.org.