Maxim Viniarski: It's Funny To Hear That The 2020 Protests Happened Spontaneously

• 6.10.2025, 14:31

You can't fight for freedom just on the weekends.

Maksim Viniarski is the coordinator of the civil campaign "European Belarus". He has been opposing Lukashenka's dictatorship for more than 25 years and has been imprisoned and arrested more than once. In January 2021, Viniarski was detained by law enforcers. He was sentenced along with other activists of "European Belarus" for "preparation for mass riots" to five years in a penal colony.

September 11, 2025 he was released and forcibly deported to Lithuania along with other former prisoners of conscience.

In an interview with the website Charter97.org, Maxim Viniarski spoke about his way of fighting against Lukashenko's regime, the events of 2020, imprisonment and the future of Belarus.

- I want to remember my first protest action. It was the first Freedom March - October 17, 1999. I went out on it quite deliberately. It was customary in my family to follow the events in the country, so everyone knew what had happened to the Supreme Soviet and when the presidential elections were to be held. If the first presidential election was held in 1994, the next one should have been held in 1999, not in 2001.

I was aware of how the coup d'état took place, how our family discussed the so-called "referendum", which allegedly voted for Lukashenko's constitution. It was obvious that the authorities had overstepped all possible boundaries. By the time of the Freedom March, General Yuri Zakharenko was already gone. Later we learned what happened to him. There were no more Viktor Gonchar and Anatol Krasowski - Lukashenko's regime had kidnapped and killed them.

It was clear that to tolerate it further meant to remove oneself from participation in the life of the country and thus share responsibility for what was happening. I was of age, had the right to vote, and understood that I had a civic responsibility for what was happening. I saw that the system at all levels was resorting to lies, intimidation and violence. And I realized that something had to be done about it.

First I joined the Young Front organization, and then I got acquainted with those who later stood at the origins of the Zubr movement: Evgeny Afnagel and Pavel Yukhnevich. For some time we acted in parallel, and in 2004 I fully joined Zubr.

All presidential elections and political campaigns that took place in Belarus, we then experienced together in the civil campaign "European Belarus". It was like that until 2020 - and probably it will be like that in the future.

- How do you remember 2020? What was the strongest impression of that time for you?

- Preparing for the 2020 protests was a long and, of course, very energy-consuming work. It's funny to hear when someone says that everything happened spontaneously. 2020 was a surprise only for those who "had an epiphany" only then and saw the opportunity to act for the first time. But "European Belarus" had been working towards it since 2015. Already in 2017, during the protests against the "tuneyad" decree, people's moods became clear.

We used the parliamentary campaign of 2019 to prepare for large-scale protests. We realized that there were no elections in the country, but we still created initiative groups, nominated candidates, conducted pickets and protests - just to contact people, talk to them, prepare them for the next stage of the struggle.

So 2020 was the result of many years of work and preparation. The street part of the campaign succeeded almost completely. Lukashenko's regime also understood this: since 2017, the authorities tried to "fracture" activists in advance, to intimidate and isolate them. Some managed to neutralize, others found ways to continue the struggle. But still, we had enough people and experience to collect signatures, campaign and bring people to the streets.

Trouble began when people with no experience joined the protests, not fully understanding what a real struggle for freedom is. You can't fight for freedom on the weekends. It is a way of life. Unfortunately, some of those who influenced the situation did not understand this.

It is a pity that the economic strike campaign could not be realized. People realized that they could not do without it, but after the street protests were dealt a heavy blow. Many leaders within the country were imprisoned or under constant pressure. When it became clear that it was impossible to continue the struggle in the streets, people came to the conclusion that it was necessary to stop cooperating with the regime completely - through strikes and economic pressure.

If this understanding had come in early August 2020, I think we would be living in a free country today.

- What helped to maintain strength and inner freedom in captivity?"

- One must realize that none of us fights alone. There are always people around - those whom you have chosen yourself and those who happened to be around by the will of circumstances. The source of strength in captivity is the people around you.

Deprivation of liberty is not always complete isolation. Most of the time you are with other people. And it is important to look for support in their positive qualities, to support them, and not to fall into despondency. If someone has helped you, you should be ready to help yourself. It is necessary to spread optimism, not pessimism.

This is what the servants of the regime are most afraid of. In colonies they forbid prisoners even to share something among themselves - a candy or a chocolate bar. For this they could send them to the SHIZO. The regime is afraid of mutual assistance and solidarity between people.

That is why you should not wait for help - try to do something yourself. If you are already there, look around you: who and how you can help. Once you see this, others will do the same. It is like a snowball, which cannot be stopped by any punishment.

The principles, by which you should live to pass this way, have long been known: "Don't believe, don't be afraid, don't ask".

Don't believe jailers and their henchmen. Don't be afraid of threats. And ask nothing from those who have usurped power. By the way, this is what irritates the jailers the most. They want you to depend on them, constantly asking for something. And when a person ignores their "small handouts" and keeps calm, they lose power over him.

- Your "release" turned out to be a forced deportation. What did you feel when instead of returning to freedom you were taken out of your native country?

- On the one hand, it is absolute negativity. Another "bottom", when people are illegally deprived of citizenship without even trying to cover themselves with the law.

But at the same time I felt joy when I saw my friends: Yevgeny Afnagel, Andrei Voynich, Dmitry Kozlov, Nikolai Statkevich, Hennadiy Fedynich, Vladimir Matskevich. We walked together for so many years, and at that moment I was just happy to see these people again.

Everyone involved in repression today should realize: the world is small and round. Everything will have to be answered for. Those who justify themselves with "orders" will not escape responsibility. And if not today, then after the fall of the regime, when power returns to the people, they will face the law. Then, at least, they will be dealt with justly.

- What, in your opinion, has changed in the Belarusian society in recent years?

- During our expulsion it became especially clear how a person who feels responsible for the country should behave. This showed the example of Mikalai Statkevich. He understood the consequences, but he did not allow himself to be forcibly removed. This is the act of a real leader.

With this background, those who did not answer the questions that were put to them to the end and now pretend to be "responsible for the country" look strange. There are people who try to divert the attention of the society from the main thing - the fact that political repressions have not been stopped in Belarus.

All this "trade" in the fates of political prisoners could make sense if it led to real political changes - the cessation of repressions and release of all prisoners. But bargaining for where one or two people will be - in a colony, in exile or under house arrest - cannot be called liberation.

We did not come out for grants and positions. We came out to change the life of the country. This process is not a one-step process. Before us there were people who paid with their freedom, health, and sometimes even their lives for the chance of Belarus for the future. There will be people after us. It is important to understand whose side you are on: the side of puppets, concerned about personal PR, or the side of those who are really ready to bear responsibility for the future of the Motherland.

- What would you like to say to the Belarusians - both those who have stayed in the country and those who are abroad?

- The political situation around our country can change at any moment. One thing is certain for me - I'm going to return to Belarus. The future of the country worries me not less than before, but perhaps even more.

I am sure that we have a chance to solve this problem and return the country to itself. The main thing now is not to get hysterical, not to feel sorry for ourselves, not to engage in self-examination. We have a country, and we have a duty to fight for it.

And I am convinced that we will definitely win this fight.