Barys Pukhalski
Political prisoner
Date of birth: 22 August 1975
Date of detention: 1 September 2023
Charges indicted:
- Art. 295 of the Criminal Code — Unlawful acts against firearms, ammunition and explosives
- Art. 356 of the Criminal Code — High treason
- Art. 309 of the Criminal Code — Intentional disrepair of a vehicle or communication lines
- Art. 289 of the Criminal Code — An act of terrorism
Sentence: unknown
Penalty: imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony
Judge: Anzhela Kastsiukevich
Cases: Rail sabotage
Notes: War in Ukraine
Barys Pukhalski was detained for allegedly preparing terrorist acts. The KGB announced the arrest of him and five other people on September 11. Among the detainees there are two Ukrainians, the rest are Belarusians. This became known from the film, which was shown simultaneously on all state channels. On the video some of them look beaten, some of them are led on chains during the investigation, one of the detainees was filmed in the KGB prison. All the detainees are in custody - they are accused of attempted terrorist acts, espionage, treason and agent activities.
On October 22, 2024, the Minsk City Court began considering the case against Ukrainian Ivan Likhalat and Belarusians Barys Pukhalski and Ivan Barodzich in closed session. Judge Anzhela Kastsiukevich was appointed to preside over the trial.
The defendants are charged with a number of articles of the Criminal Code: part 3 of Article 289 of the Criminal Code (terrorist act), Article 358-1 (agent activity), part 4 of Article 309 of the Criminal Code (intentionally rendering a vehicle or means of communication inoperable), part 4 of Article 295 of the Criminal Code (illegal actions with firearms, ammunition and explosives), part 1 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code (high treason), and part 2 of Article 406 of the Criminal Code (failure to report a crime).
On December 18, 2024, they were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 11 to 25 years. The exact terms for each of them are not reported.
The prosecutor's office said in a statement that Pukhalski and Likhalat allegedly committed an attempted bombing on a section of the railway. The prosecutor's office qualified this as "an attempted act of terrorism" under part 1 of Article 14, part 3 of Article 289 of the Criminal Code and "attempt to render the means of railway transport inoperable" under part 1 of Article 14, part 4 of Article 309 of the Criminal Code.
Pukhalski's actions were additionally qualified as "illegal trafficking in explosives" under part 4 of Article 295 of the Criminal Code and "high treason" under part 1 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code, Likhalat - "agent activity" under Article 358-1 of the Criminal Code, and Barodzich - "high treason" and "failure to report planned criminal actions" under part 1 of Article 356 and part 2 of Article 406 of the Criminal Code.
