Belarus: someone reported you

• Channels. Reports go to the Interior Ministry's anonymous bot 'We are always near' (nationwide since January 2026), a form on the KGB website and the Minsk city bot 'Ideological Inspection' (since December 2025). Pro-government bloggers publish denunciations openly; detentions and cases under art. 361-4 of the Criminal Code sometimes follow. The informant may not be named in the charge sheet.
• Who reports. Leaked letters to the KGB from 2014-2023 include reports on colleagues, neighbours, ex-partners and relatives. Human Constanta ('extremist' in Belarus) writes that charges under art. 19.11 of the Administrative Code are used for personal revenge in domestic and workplace conflicts. Reports are sometimes filed in disputes over a child.
• The law. A false denunciation is a crime (art. 400 of the Criminal Code: up to 3 years, up to 5 with an accusation of a serious crime). A truthful report is not. The law exempts a member of an 'extremist formation' who informed the authorities in time (note to art. 361-1). Bear this in mind when writing in group chats.
• If you are summoned. Viasna ('extremist' in Belarus) advises going only with a written summons and only for a formal interrogation, taking a lawyer to both interrogations and 'preventive talks', and using the right not to testify against yourself and your family (art. 27 of the Constitution). In its experience, a case often starts with a written explanation signed under pressure.
• Bots and trips. Writing to other people's bots is risky too: after the leak from the Belarusian Hajun bot in 2025, Viasna knows of 234 confirmed convictions. Viasna warns that even a short trip to Belarus can end in detention, and having had no trouble before guarantees nothing.

Designations of organisations in this guide: Viasna Human Rights Centre (extremist in Belarus); Human Constanta (extremist in Belarus). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.

current as of 26 September 2026. More: Reform.news: Interior Ministry tests an anonymous reporting bot (in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Reform.news: the Interior Ministry bot now works nationwide (in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Human Constanta: review of the fight against 'extremism', Oct-Dec 2025 (PDF, in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Human Constanta: review for Oct-Dec 2024 (in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Novaya Gazeta Europe: the leak of letters to the Belarusian KGB (in Russian) (undesirable); Reform.news: KGB leak shows reports on colleagues, neighbours, ex-partners (in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Zerkalo: a man reported his son's mother to GUBOPiK (in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Mediazona Belarus: 10 days' jail over a book at home, informant not named (in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Viasna: advice for people summoned over donations (in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Reform.news: Viasna knows of 234 people convicted in the Hajun case (in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Meduza: Belarusian Hajun stopped work after a leak from its bot (in Russian) (foreign agent, undesirable); Reform.news: Viasna, even a short trip to Belarus can end in detention (in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Nasha Niva: a fake copy of a channel collects phone numbers (in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Criminal Code of Belarus (pravo.by): arts. 188, 361-1, 361-4, 400, 406 (in Russian); Administrative Code of Belarus (pravo.by): art. 19.11 (in Russian)