Mikita Losik, the younger brother of imprisoned Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Ihar Losik, has fled Belarus after being sentenced to three years for "extremist activities" for sending photos of Russian military equipment to the Telegram channel "Belaruski Hajun."
The 25-year-old software engineer was recently evacuated to safety by the BySol Foundation, an organization supporting Belarusian political prisoners and dissidents. Details of the move were not disclosed.
"I was outraged," Mikita told RFE/RL, referring to the day in February 2023 when he witnessed a train convoy of Russian tanks and air-defense vehicles marked with the pro-war "Z" and "V" symbols passing through the eastern city of Orsha, where he worked at a machine-tool plant.
"We're told Belarus is a peaceful country, but here we were helping Russia's war effort in broad daylight. I had to act."
Losik said he took several photos and submitted them to Belaruski Hajun, a popular online monitoring channel reporting on military activities across Belarus.
More than two years later, on April 9, 2025, Mikita's life changed abruptly.
At 6 a.m., eight armed men in masks stormed his dormitory room in Orsha.
"They pinned my roommate to the ground. The first thing that came across my mind, I thought they were after a criminal or something. Then they forced me down, too," Mikita recalled.
A plainclothes officer then showed him Telegram messages he had long deleted.
Mikita was handcuffed and taken to the city of Vitsebsk for questioning.
"One of them sneered, 'Want to be in the next cell with your brother?' I joked, 'Sure, it’s been a while since we saw each other.' They didn't appreciate the joke."
That brother is Ihar Losik, a well-known blogger and journalist with RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, who was sentenced in 2021 to 15 years in prison in a closed trial widely condemned by human rights groups.
Mikita was held in the Vitsebsk's pretrial detention center, where he described conditions as "brutal."
Political detainees were denied mattresses and forced to sleep on metal frames or concrete floors. Lights remained on all night, and guards staged provocations to justify their harsh actions against the inmates.
"They didn't beat me, but the verbal abuse was constant," Losik said.
Despite a lack of concrete evidence beyond four military photos and social media posts bearing a "No to war" hashtag, authorities charged him with "aiding extremist activity."
Mikita's trial, held earlier this month, lasted only two days.
The judge and prosecutor cited old Telegram subscriptions and social media statuses featuring the banned white-red-white Belarusian flag and the Ukrainian flag as aggravating factors.
The white-red-white flag was used by the short-lived Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918-1920 and reinstated after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1995, the authoritarian ruler of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, replaced the historical flag with one similar to that used in the Soviet era.
On July 8, Mikita Losik was sentenced to three years of "khimiya" in an open-type correctional facility. The concept of "khimiya" -- literally translated as chemistry -- goes back to the late 1940s, when convicts were sent to work at dangerous facilities such as chemical factories and uranium mines while living in special nearby dormitories instead of being incarcerated in penitentiaries.
Before Losik was released, another trial held without his presence ordered him to pay a hefty fine for using an avatar featuring antiwar symbols.
Though relieved to avoid prison, Mikita feared that life in a "chemistry dorm" under a parole-like control and tight restrictions would be unbearable — especially with his surname drawing attention.
"While in the detention center, I discussed that with other inmates: the authorities don't let you live peacefully under 'chemistry' control. A few minor infractions, and they'll send you to a correctional colony. And with my last name? I knew I had to leave," he said.
Days after the sentencing, Losik said he made the difficult decision to flee Belarus. His exact location remains undisclosed for security reasons.
His brother, Ihar Losik, remains in prison, having already served more than five years. He is one of the most prominent victims of the Belarusian regime's sweeping crackdown on dissent following the disputed 2020 presidential election.
Ihar Losik has not been heard from in nearly two years, aside from a brief appearance in a January state propaganda broadcast. His fate remains unknown.
Mikita’s story is part of a larger campaign of repression in Belarus, where hundreds have been arrested for passing information to Belaruski Hajun, making donations to opposition causes, or even for commenting critically on social media.
Mikita says he met numerous political prisoners in the Vitsebsk detention center and pretrial facility: engineers, students, ordinary citizens, many of whom were sentenced "just for sending money or posting emojis."
Though free now, Mikita knows his safety remains precarious. But he stands by his decision.
"I couldn't pretend not to see what was happening. I couldn't stay silent while our land was being used to wage war," he said.
Lukashenko, who claimed a seventh term in a disputed January 2025 election, continues to rule with an iron grip. The election was widely condemned as a sham by Western governments and opposition groups.
As of July 1, rights group Vyasna (Spring) reported that 1,175 people are still considered political prisoners in Belarus.
