Yana Pinchuk, administrator of Telegram channels, extradited from Russia and sentenced to 12 years, has been released
The girl lived in Moscow and from there helped detained demonstrators in Belarus.
Yana Pinchuk was among the group of political prisoners released on September 16, 2026.
Yana Pinchuk was born in 1997 in Vitebsk. In 2018, she moved to Moscow, where she designed metal structures for stretch ceilings. Later, she switched to working as a waitress because she earned more there. When restaurants closed during the pandemic, she returned to design work.
After the start of protests in Belarus, Pinchuk helped detainees and their relatives. She was also a member of the "Vitebsk 97%" chat. During the protests, she only came to Belarus for a few days to visit her mother.
Russian security forces raided the apartment in St. Petersburg where Yana lived with her boyfriend Nikita Safronov, on November 1, 2021. The security forces were primarily interested in her phone. After the search, Pinchuk was arrested at the request of the Belarusian authorities for extradition.
The girl applied for refugee status in Russia, but was denied.
While in custody, Yana married Nikita.
Pinchuk's lawyers, meanwhile, tried to prevent her extradition to Belarus through the courts. Even before the extradition issue was considered, the European Court of Human Rights demanded a suspension of the extradition. However, in early June 2022, a St. Petersburg court allowed Pinchuk to be extradited to Belarus, citing that the ECHR's order was issued after Russia's withdrawal from the Council of Europe.
The UN Human Rights Committee also called on Russia to suspend Pinchuk's extradition pending consideration of her complaint.
However, on August 9, 2022, Yana Pinchuk was finally extradited to Belarus.
The trial of the political prisoner began on April 10, 2023, in the Minsk City Court and was held behind closed doors. Yana was charged under five criminal articles: Part 3 of Article 130 (inciting other social hatred or enmity); Part 3 of Article 361 (public calls for the seizure of state power, violent change of the constitutional order, or actions aimed at harming the national security of Belarus); Part 1 of Article 361-1 (creation of an extremist formation); Part 3 of Article 293 (training or other preparation of persons for participation in mass riots or financing of such activities); Part 1 of Article 290-4 (creation of an organization for terrorist activities or participation in it).
According to the prosecution, Pinchuk engaged in "discrediting the official authorities" online for more than a year and called for participation in protests. She was also accused of administering the Telegram channels "Vitebsk 97%", "Orsha 97%", and "Novopolotsk and Polotsk 97%".
On June 6, 2023, Pinchuk was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony.
Pinchuk suffers from asthma. It was reported that for some time she was not in the colony — it was presumed that the political prisoner might have been in the hospital.
Her husband is waiting for Yana to be free.
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