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As of 30 June 2026, at least 123 cultural figures, including at least 23 writers, were either imprisoned or under home confinement. The number of banned books climbed to 366.
A new politically motivated criminal case was initiated against former political prisoner, publisher, and cultural manager Pavieł Mažejka.
A politically motivated sentence was handed down to Tacciana Šarak, lead singer of the cover band 3rd Region.
Activist and promoter of Belarusian culture Nina Bahinskaja was detained in Minsk.
The stores Honar, LSTR Adzieńnie, and Ragna have announced their closure.
The authorities have sold the apartment of writer and journalist Uładzimir Chilmanovič.
Authorities target writer Saša Filipienka (Sasha Filipenko) in connection with the case against the European Humanities University (EHU).
Security service officers are pressuring acquaintances of Julija Kataržynskaja, a cultural manager and promoter of Belarusian culture.
The Zavodski District Court of Minsk declared books by Sviatłana Aleksijevič and Łarysa Hienijuš to be “extremist.”
The international historical re-enactment festival Naš Hrunvald 2026 (Our Gruenwald 2026) was cancelled.
I. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 7 July, it became known that the Homiel Regional Court had handed down a politically motivated sentence against Tacciana Šarak. She was convicted under Article 361-4(1) and (2) of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activity). She is believed to have received a sentence of restricted freedom under home confinement. Šarak worked at the Belarusnafta branch in Rečyca, a state-owned oil operator, and was the lead singer of the cover band 3rd Region.
2. On 13 July, it became known that a new politically motivated criminal case had been initiated against former political prisoner, publisher, and cultural manager Pavieł Mažejka. The case had in fact been opened on 11 May 2026, apparently under Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activity). “I do not know exactly what the case concerns. What I do know is that dozens of so-called procedural actions have been carried out against my relatives, family members, and acquaintances: searches, interrogations, including informal conversations,” Mažejka said.
II. Persecution and administrative arrests of cultural figures and participants in cultural events
On 14 July, it became known that activist and promoter of Belarusian culture Nina Bahinskaja had been detained on a street in Minsk. Police officers searched her personal belongings without explanation and confiscated a book.
III. Closure of stores selling clothing brands and ethnic products with national symbols
1. On 10 July 2026, the contemporary Belarusian clothing store Honar announced on its social media that it would cease operations on 19 July.
2. On 11 July, the Ragna store in Minsk closed after 13 years of operation as a cultural and ethnic hub bringing together craftspeople and enthusiasts of traditional Belarusian culture.
3. On 12 July, information emerged about the closure of the LSTR Adzieńnie store. Its founders announced the decision on social media.
IV. Persecution of cultural figures in exile
1. On 1 July, it became known that the apartment of writer and journalist Uładzimir Chilmanovič had been sold at auction on 30 June. His property was put on sale as a result of politically motivated persecution. On 19 August 2024, the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced Chilmanovič, in absentia, to five years’ imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony and imposed a fine of 40,000 BYN (approximately 13,370 USD). The sale of his property is intended to recover the fine. On 23 June, his summer house in the village of Navasiołki, Masty District, was also sold at auction.
2. On 13 July, it became known that police officers and KGB officials had visited the relatives of writer Saša Filipienka in Belarus in connection with the case against the European Humanities University (EHU). “The last time they came because I had also studied at EHU. Apparently, they wanted to find out what exactly I had done there, although I only completed my first year, when EHU was still in Minsk, before it was closed,” the writer said.
3. On 14 July, the apartment of the former wife of Ihar Stankievič, a researcher of Stalinist repressions, was searched by five officers, including KGB personnel. They were interested in the activities of the Nation of Leaders initiative, which organises online courses on topics ranging from civic activism to genealogy. Stankievič was forced to leave Belarus for Poland under the threat of politically motivated prosecution. The social media accounts of his initiative Kabylaki. Executed in Orša were designated “extremist information products,” and his name was added to the joint wanted persons database of Belarus and Russia.
4. On 15 July, it became known that security service officers in Hrodna were putting pressure on acquaintances of Julija Kataržynskaja, a cultural manager and promoter of Belarusian culture who was forced to leave Belarus. “They summoned my former classmates from school and university and lecturers for questioning – people I hadn’t spoken to for some fifteen years,” Kataržynskaja said.
V. Banned books
On 2 July, the Zavodski District Court of Minsk declared a number of printed publications “extremist materials,” including:
- Sviatłana Aleksijevič. 100 Quotes on Svaboda;
- Frozen White Expanse. A Collection of Songs Based on Poems by Łarysa Hienijuš and Pietra Rusava;
- Mienskaja Viasna (Minsk Spring), Naša Niva, 1996;
- Don’t Make Fun of My Prepositions by Vincuk Viačorka;
- The People’s Programme “Free Belarus” (Warsaw–New York–Minsk);
- Neo-Communism in Belarus: Ideology, Practice, Prospects by Stanisłaŭ Šuškievič;
- The Belarusian Political System and the 2001 Presidential Election (Analytical Group, Warsaw: Centre for Democracy in Eastern Europe);
- The Fate of the Lyceum. Autobiographical Notes by Uładzimir Kołas;
- Programme of Constitutional Reforms by Michaił Pastuchoŭ.
VI. Designation of cultural projects’ social media as “extremist”
1. On 7 July 2026, the Horki District Court of Mahiloŭ Region declared the instbelknihi account of the Institute of the Belarusian Book to be “extremist”.
2. On 14 July 2026, the Leninski District Court of Hrodna declared the website and social media pages of the NGO Fundacja OKNO NA WSCHÓD to be “extremist materials”.
VII. Designation of cultural figures’ social media as “extremist”
On 8 July 2026, the Krasnapolle, Mahiloŭ Region District Court declared the Instagram account fraudrobysh, belonging to Kryscina Drobyš, “extremist”.
VIII. Designation of cultural projects as “extremist formations”
On 14 July, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB designated the international marketplace Kamaroŭka, which sells books, clothing, home décor, cosmetics, and other products for Belarusians around the world, an “extremist formation”.
IX. Cancellation of cultural events
1. In the village of Latochi, near Viciebsk, the authorities posted a notice banning the traditional Kupalle celebration. Residents were warned that participating in the festivities could result in administrative penalties, including fines and short-term detention.
2. On 10 July, it became known that the 17th International Historical Re-enactment Festival “Naš Hrunvald 2026”, scheduled to take place at the end of July, had been cancelled. The organisers announced the decision on social media:
“This is an extremely difficult message for us to share. With great regret, we announce that despite enormous preparations, months of work, and all our efforts, the 17th historical re-enactment festival Naš Hrunvald 2026 will not take place in Dudutki at the end of July, as it has for the past sixteen consecutive years. Circumstances have arisen that make it impossible to hold the festival on the planned dates.”
The organisers did not disclose the reasons for the cancellation in their public statement.