WindyApp weather forecast marketer came home — and was sentenced to five years for crypto donations to Ukraine
In recent years, Dzmitry Novikau worked in Poland.
Dzmitry Novikau, a Minsk resident, is 31 years old. In 2017, he graduated from the Belarusian State University with a degree in "internet marketing".
He built his career in mobile product promotion, starting in advertising agencies and working for Zorka.Mobi. Since 2019, he held the position of Senior User Acquisition Manager at the popular weather forecast service WindyApp, where he managed the marketing team and analyzed digital data.
Dzmitry worked in Poland in recent years, but later returned to Belarus. Three months after his return, on December 16, 2025, he was detained. The reason for the criminal prosecution, according to "Viasna", was two small cryptocurrency transfers for humanitarian needs of Belarusian volunteers defending Ukraine's independence.
In May 2026, the Minsk City Court issued a verdict under Article 361-3 of the Criminal Code.
The judge sentenced Dzmitry to five years in a penal colony.
Novikau was sent to serve his sentence in correctional colony No. 22 "Volchy Nory" (Wolf's Dens).
Mass political repressions in the country began after 2020. At that time, Alexander Lukashenka lost to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, but did not hand over power to her, forcing her to leave the country. Mass popular protests against the dictatorship and election falsification took place. The authorities responded with repressions.
According to calculations by the "Belpol" association of security forces and human rights defenders, the names of at least 10,050 people who faced politically motivated criminal cases are known. In total, one way or another, political repressions (criminal charges, administrative arrests, dismissals, searches, forced emigration) affected hundreds of thousands of Belarusians.
The Belarusian authorities consider "extremism" to be the demand for free elections with transparent vote counting, as well as virtually any criticism of the authorities, pro-Russian historical narratives, expressions of solidarity with Ukraine, and anti-war speeches.
«Nasha Niva» — the bastion of Belarus
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