In Gomel, the head of an association that searches for the remains of victims of war and Stalinist repression, and his nurse wife, were sentenced for political reasons
Ihar Svirydzenka led the search movement for many years, returning the names of fallen soldiers, while his wife Alena saved young patients in intensive care.
Ihar Svirydzenka is 51 years old, his wife Alena is 53.
Alena worked for a long time as a senior nurse in the anesthesiology and intensive care department of a children's hospital in Gomel. The family has a son.
Since 2017, Ihar Svirydzenka headed the Gomel Regional Search Public Association "Memory of the Fatherland". The organization conducted archival research and field excavations at the sites of battles of the Second World War, and also studied the burials of victims of Stalinist repression.
Over the years of their work, the searchers found the remains of hundreds of fallen Red Army soldiers and civilians, sought relatives of missing soldiers, and recovered military equipment from the ground for museums — including a T-34 tank in the Vetka district. In addition, Svirydzenka developed a project for an interactive military-historical complex-museum "Gorod" (City).
Pressure on Ihar began in March 2023. At that time, he was arrested for 10 days for "distributing extremist materials", and soon the "Memory of the Fatherland" organization was liquidated by court. The authorities stated that the association allegedly "caused significant damage to state interests" and promoted "anti-state views".
In March 2025, Ihar and his wife were detained under a criminal case and sent to remand prison No. 3 in Gomel.
The Gomel Regional Court found the spouses guilty under Part 2 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitation of extremist activities).
Ihar Svirydzenka was sentenced to a penal colony or "chemistry" (restricted freedom) with assignment, and his wife Alena — to "home chemistry" (house arrest with restricted freedom).
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