Polina Zyl

Affiliated media: Blogger

Incident date: February 16, 2025

Attack type:

• Criminal/administrative prosecution excluding (1), (2) and (3)

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Mazyr

Additional information:

It has been reported that blogger Polina Zyl has been arrested and is being held in a pre-trial detention center. She has been charged with participating in protests (Article 342 of the Criminal Code) and involvement in an “extremist formation.” Polina was detained along with her partner, Maksim Shukanov. The charges against him are unknown. Zyl and Shukanov had been declared wanted by the Belarusian authorities but chose to remain in Belarus. During this time, they tried to avoid any contact with state institutions. However, recently, Maksim required medical assistance. It is unclear whether the information was passed to the security forces by medical personnel or if the couple was simply caught on surveillance cameras, but eventually, they were detained at the train station in Minsk.