Dzianis Hrakhanau was detained on September 10 at home in Minsk for painting the phrase "We Will Not Forget" on a sidewalk near the Pushkinskaya metro station. He was detained until September 13 and was initially charged under Art. 341 of the Criminal Code, "desecration of structures and damage to property." He was later released on own recognizance.

However, on October 22, Dzianis was re-arrested and taken into custody in a detention center, and the charges against him were reclassified to Part 2 of Art. 339 of the Criminal Code, "hooliganism committed by a group of persons", and Part 2 of Art. 218 of the Criminal Code, "deliberate destruction or damage to property committed in a generally dangerous manner or causing large-scale damage."

On December 8, 2020, the Frunzienski District Court of Minsk sentenced Dzianis Hrakhanau to 1 1/2 years' imprisonment in an open-type penal colony (so called "khimiya"). The convict was released in the courtroom pending an appeal hearing.

On April 15, 2021, Dzianis Hrakhanau was sent to serve his sentence in open correctional institution No. 45 in the village of Suški, Kamianiec district, Brest region.

On February 15, 2022, KGB officers arrived at the correctional institution, they took away phones from everyone and questioned those in “political” cases. Human rights defenders learned that a new criminal case had been brought against Hrakhanau, but the article is still unknown. The political prisoner was transferred from the open correctional institution to Homiel pre-trial detention centre.