Freed TUT.BY Editor-in-Chief Speaks About Нanna Ablab and Volha Brytsikava

Maryna Zolatava, editor-in-Chief of TUT.BY, was released from prison on 13 December 2025. On 11 January 2026, she published her first Facebook post since her release, sharing memories of the women she was imprisoned with. Among them were representatives of the independent labour movement.

Нanna Ablab

Maryna Zolatava wrote about Нanna Ablab, who, according to her, had the rare ability to support and comfort everyone, even in the harshest conditions of imprisonment. “Radiant eyes — that’s exactly Нanna,” Zolatava noted. At home, Hanna is awaited by her three sons. She has been sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment.

Volha Brytsikava

Zolatava also paid special attention to Volha Brytsikava — a trade union leader and one of the most well-known figures of the independent labour movement. “Legendary Volha Brytsikava — I had long wanted to meet her,” Zolatava wrote, adding that they met only behind bars, in detention on Antoshkina Street. During Brytsikava’s imprisonment, her mother passed away — a tragedy that, as Zolatava emphasizes, many women in prisons and pre-trial detention centres have endured, learning about the death of loved ones while already behind bars.

It should be noted that at least two more women remain imprisoned: Alena Nazarava, an activist of the independent REP trade union, and Hanna Karneenka, a member of the SPM trade union. The cynicism of the situation is further underscored by the fact that 2026 has been officially declared the “Year of Women” in Belarus, while hundreds of women continue to be held in prison on politically motivated charges.

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