My name is Artyom Kovalev and I am from Chechersk.
In 2020, I took part in the election campaign on the side of Sergei and then Svetlana Tihanovsky. Because of this, the police declared a “hunt” for me. I managed to hide and miraculously avoided detention. But my father, Yuri Kovalev, was detained. He was non-stop serving a “day” for participation in protests, and then received a year in jail for “insulting Lukashenka. After that he was transferred to a psychiatric hospital, where he remains to this day. My father was recognized as a political prisoner.
On March 14, 2023, KGB officers came to my house with a search. They were checking my telegram subscriptions and were allegedly looking for weapons and ammunition. During the search they intimidated me with a long sentence, blackmailed my wife, children, and father, who is in the hospital.
They forced me to paint the coat of arms "Pagonya" on the garage door, and recorded a penitential video with me. Later I was shown on BT and ONT as a "sleeper cell" and was called a "fascist" in the district newspaper.
When I was in the TDF, I started having health problems and was taken to the hospital. I escaped from there in shorts and a T-shirt. Thanks to concerned people and BYSOL Foundation, I got to Warsaw through Yerevan, Tbilisi and Kutaisi, and now I am starting my life from scratch.
I work in delivery. Recently a family came to visit me — my wife and two children. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to rent a place for all of us. That's why I have to ask for help from Belarusians and I hope that they will help me.
We will spend the money we raise on rent, buying basic necessities and clothing.
Thank you so much!
How much is needed?
€3400
Apartment rent. Clothes, shoes, hygiene products, medicine, toys for children.