How Top Officials From Lukashenka's Entourage Continue to Quit

The system is bursting at the seams.

The person who turns off the light in the Palace of Independence will undoubtedly be Lidzia Yarmoshyna. But for more than 50 days now, we have seen other key players leaving the system, those who have been loyal functionaries for many years and have fueled the regime with their open statements and loyalty. The Village Belarus remembered all these daredevils and asked what the former civil servants are doing now.

Anatol Kotau

On August 18, he resigned from Lukashenka's administration

He resigned from the post of deputy head of the department of financing of state bodies of the main financial department of Lukashenka's manager. Prior to that, he worked in the administration's foreign policy department as chief adviser, was the NOC general secretary, which is headed by Lukashenka.

Kotau wrote on Facebook that he did not plan to advertise his departure, but, nevertheless, decided to do it:

"I didn't want to post this photo. I was fired quite calmly and honestly. But today, Karajeu and Lukashenka made important statements. Therefore, it is dedicated to many of my former colleagues from the civil service... I do not know how you sleep at night... There were no tortures or murders. Unfortunately, today even the UNHCHR has confirmed otherwise. Belarusian citizens may be denied entry to their country. I made my choice. I am going nowhere, with loans and other standard things. Now I am a sheep and a drug addict."

After his departure from a high position, Kotau did not remain silent - he gave several interviews to independent media, in which he commented in detail on his civil position, criticized Lukashenka's "victory" in the elections and the violence after that, and even revealed some details of the "inside" of the civil service. Kotau also maintains his personal page on social networks in a frank white-red-white manner: he supports Herasimenia and Latushka, laughs at the conversation between Nick and Mike, and trolls Lukashenka's legitimacy. What Anatol is doing now professionally, he does not advertise.

Artsiem Praskalovich

He resigned from Lukashenka's Administration on August 14

A top lawyer, he was the deputy head of the department of legislation in law enforcement and military spheres of the Main State and Legal Department.

On August 13, Artsiem Praskalovich published on social networks a photo of his letter of resignation and left a capacious comment: "I no longer consider it possible to be a lawyer in the civil service."

Artsiem does not talk about his new workplace either; he says: "I work remotely." But in social networks, after his dismissal, he publishes exclusively civil-political posts in support of the persecuted IT specialists and the slogan" "We believe. We can. We'll win."

Yahor Viarbitski

On August 14, he left Lukashenka's administration

He worked as Product Manager at the National Legal Information Center.

Yahor worked in Lukashenka's administration for less than a year; in his social networks, he announced his dismissal as follows: "08/14/2020 I confidently and independently made a decision.

I wrote a letter of resignation! I cannot close my eyes to illegal detentions and the use of violence against my relatives and citizens of our state. "Judging by the status on his Linkedin profile, Yahor is still looking for a job.

Dzmitry Rytvinski

On August 20, he left the National Cadastral Agency of the State Committee for Property

He was deputy general director of NCA

The National Cadastral Agency is one of the government organizations that protested massively and on a large scale. On August 19, about half of the NCA employees signed an open appeal calling for an end to the violence, the release of all political prisoners, and a new presidential election. Dzmitry Rytvinski did not wait for these requirements to be fulfilled and left the organization the next day, having worked in it for 18 years. He commented on his dismissal in social networks as follows:

"You can always find a job, but if you lose your conscience, you may not find it. I quit with my personal decision. Maybe I'll write a longer post later. I need to comprehend and live the moment a little. Now, I'm officially unemployed for the first time in 18 years."

Dzmitry was unemployed for a short time, and already on September 1, he became a senior manager in the field of business consulting at EPAM.

Now Dzmitry lives in a house near Square of Changes and constantly streams their emotional evening parties on his social networks. By the way, here is one of his important addresses:

"Every Belarusian who wants freedom, protection, and guarantees of rights, justice, and independence is simply obliged to visit Square of Changes in Minsk!"

Vital Volski

On September 2, he left the Prosecutor General's Office

He was the senior prosecutor of the international legal department

Volski worked in the prosecutor's office for 13 years, a few days after the presidential election; he went on vacation, and then quit. In an interview with TUT.BY, he explained his dismissal by a set of reasons, but "the events that took place in the country over the past few months" prompted him to make such a decision.

"There is no main reason - it's like that for everyone who leaves work. Rather, it is a combination of different reasons. You just, at some point, realize that you can't work in this organization anymore. But there is one reason like "beat people" or "did not register a candidate" or something else - there is no such thing. You live in a country, walk the streets, observe what is happening - and, at some point, you make a choice for yourself," Volski commented.

Vadzim Dzeviatouski

He left the Belarusian Athletics Federation

He was the chairman of the Belarusian Athletics Federation.

We are in no hurry to welcome Dzeviatouski, a consistent supporter of Aliaksandr Lukashenka, in the resistance, but we cannot fail to note his tricks, which shout that the regime is bursting at the seams.

On August 21, Dzeviatouski publicly renounced Lukashenka's loyalty by posting on Facebook, writing that he was no longer his president. Later, in comments to the media, Dzeviatouski assured that he had not been hacked, and he is aware that he is saying: "My previous position is a delusion. It was a betrayal of myself. It is important. On my Facebook page, this is my statement. Don't think I was hacked. Everything is obvious. I wrote this, and it became very easy for me. Why did you decide to write this? Because this is true. I really think so. Believe me, it's very easy for me to say this now, it became much easier for me. I'm sorry, that's all."

Later it became known that the elder brother of the head of the UAF was in the hospital after a suicide attempt, and Vadzim himself also disappeared from the media space for a long time. And, recently, he removed his post-renunciation of Lukashenka and left the post of head of the UAF with the words "my body has failed, and I need to recover." In his latest Facebook post on August 14, there is a reference to the possible reason for the coup in the mind of the functionary, he writes:

"There are such episodes on the part of power structures, and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said this yesterday and apologized for that. I also cannot stand aside, and today I also understand one episode that strongly hooked me, where, indeed, the edge of reason was erased and, I hope, in this particular episode, we will reach a fair trial. "Probably, the violence of August 9-11 affected the Dzeviatouski family; The Village Belarus also has such information from its own source.

Dzmitry Semchanka

He left Lukashenka's pool of journalists

He was the head of the dictatorial pool, leading on ONT.

Dzmitry Semchanka said goodbye to the state propaganda loudly and publicly. This is probably why the authorities decided to take revenge on him for 15 days on Akrestsin Street.

On August 18, he posted photos of the beaten protesters on social media and wrote:

"When I saw how the Belarusian people were being destroyed, I realized that I would never be able to keep silent about it. Otherwise, I will be a living corpse!

My Belarus and the people who live here are the highest value for me. How can I talk from the screen about drug addicts and unemployed people strolling down the street or filming about the cleaning service when our girls are raped in paddy wagons, their ovaries and uterus are torn apart, making it impossible to become mothers? When guys, who are lying on the ground and do not resist, are beaten between their legs until everything turns into mush there. They now go to the toilet through a tube in their side. When 50 crippled people in a small cell for 5 people cannot move and have to urinate themselves; they are poisoned with gas. For 24 hours, they do not give them food and water. They are beaten! Beaten! Beaten! When people are stacked on top of each other in three rows, others jump on them, breaking their arms, legs, and spines. When they shoot unarmed people with their hands up. When they smash the windows with truncheons in the car with a small child, they ram tthe car with an armored car. When pregnant women lose their children. When parents say goodbye to their grown-up sons forever.

Genocide! For which the executioners received medals from their commander-in-chief!!!

I could find a thousand reasons to justify myself. Hide behind fear for a family and a small child. "Believe" the leaders who promise to start showing the whole truth. Help them to cover up a purulent wound on the body of the country with a foundation. But then, when I'm old, when the blanket no longer warms, but only memories warm, I would not remember anything except these days. I would break them down by minutes, dreaming of only one thing - to go back and do everything according to my conscience..."

After that, Semchanka gave several honest interviews to independent media, one of them - for the program of Ksenia Sobchak - right on the eve of the arrest. In it, he said: "The country is flying into the abyss. If all this goes unpunished, then we will get an absolutely monstrous system, from which literally everyone will receive a lot of grief and pain. And even those who are in charge of this system".

Two months after the elections, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry actually liquidated itself. Several key officials have left, including the son of Uladzimir Makej, Vital Makej, who was a senior advisor to the sustainable development department of the main department of multilateral diplomacy. Also, due to its publicly announced civic position, an unthinkable number of ambassadors resigned. For example, the ambassador to Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru, Uladzimir Astapenka, resigned right on the day of Lukashenko's inauguration.