Any Belarusian can join the Movement and choose from numerous options to resist the war and Belarus' regime.
Here is an overview of the Movement for the week of May 2-8.
Support for Ukrainians and Belarusians
- Belarusians of the Prague Support Team in Czechia sent equipment to Belarusian volunteers in Odessa, including the drone donated by Belarusian girl Varia.
- The ŻYVI Foundation sent assistance to Belarusians in Ukraine and delivered aid to Ukrainian refugees in Bulgaria.
- The US will push for bringing Lukashenka and his henchmen to accountability for repression of Belarusians and complicity in war crimes against Ukraine, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya announced following her visit to Washington D.C. Read more about the visit.
- Belarusians of Krakow, as well as Bydgoszcz, Vilnius, Gdansk, Warsaw, Lisse and Toronto, held rallies in their cities to show their support for Ukraine and protest against the war.
- Since January 1, 2021, the BYSOL Foundation has provided aid to 346 families of political prisoners amounting to 210,798 euros. The money was raised as donations, with some of the funds raised with the help of partners, sponsors, and even at charity auctions. Most frequently the Foundation donated the money for food, care packages, and medicines.
- The Association of Ukrainians in South Australia and the Belarusian Cultural Society in Adelaide held a benefit concert, Stand with Ukraine, in Adelaide. The concert raised more than A$70,000 to be used for humanitarian aid to those in need in Ukraine.
- The Viasna Human Rights Center sent 35 boxes of food and hygiene products as humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
- 149 Western companies have suspended their activities in Belarus over the regime's complicity in aggression. The National Anti-Crisis Management team, within its campaign to cut the regime’s financing, addressed companies that had suspended operations in Russia but continued to work in Belarus. NAM made an appeal template and urged Belarusians to fill it out and send it to companies, demanding that they suspend their cooperation with the Lukashenka regime, which had usurped power in Belarus.
- The Belarusian Council for Culture, Free Belarus Center and Action Office launched an accelerator for cultural projects reinventing the modern challenges.
Resistance
- Belarusians in Minsk honored the memory of Stanislau Shushkevich.
- Minsk residents held an anti-war picket and distributed leaflets.
- “Stop Lukashism”, said Belarusians of Barauliany, protesting against Lukashenka’s “peacemaking” statements.
- Belarusians in Vawkavysk held an action in support of Andrei Bialiauski, a TikTok blogger from Babruisk who had been detained by riot police.
- The new guide from the Stop Propaganda Initiative explains how to save older relatives from TV and regime propaganda.
- Partisans in Minsk hung white-red-white ribbons across their district to demonstrate that the regime will never stamp out the partisan movement in Belarus.
Awareness campaign
- Belsat made a piece on Belarusians' and Ukrainians' anti-war content on TikTok.
- The Belarusian Association of Journalists received the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize. This is the first time the award was given not to a journalist but an entire organization.
- The Literary Belarus cultural and educational project released a new issue of its journal, featuring articles on renowned Belarusian writers, novels, and other Belarusian literature.
- The Belarusian PEN Center made a chronicle of human rights violations in the cultural sphere in Belarus in the first quarter of 2022, reporting 311 rights violations.
- Freezing foreign exchange reserves and ensuring accountability for Lukashenka: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke on the outcomes and significance of her visit to the US and explained that by addressing the international community, the Office prevents Lukashenka from playing the false “peacemaker” role.
- Most, a Belarusian media outlet, told the stories of Belarusians living abroad and hosting Ukrainian refugees.
#BelarusWithUkraine
