My name is Konstantin Yershov, I am from Minsk, and I am 37 years old. By profession, I am an electrician and a repair technician. You might say that a healthy man doesn’t need help, he should manage on his own – and you’d be right, because until a certain point I thought the same and relied only on myself. However, the time I spent in the remand center and an injury sustained in exile have so undermined my health that I can no longer work fully and have been left without means of subsistence.
Until 2020, I lived and worked in Minsk. I started working at an enterprise at the age of 18, and on the side I did photography and repaired cars and motorcycles. I first took part in protests during “Ploshcha-2010”, but afterwards, like many of my peers, I became disillusioned with political activism. In 2020, after being dismissed from my job in the summer due to COVID-19, I became actively involved in protests against electoral fraud and police violence, documenting the events as a photographer.
In December 2020, riot police brutally beat me in the stairwell of my apartment building. They had tracked me during courtyard marches. I was taken to a police station, and later hospitalised with severe injuries: a torn thigh muscle, internal organ bruising, and signs of strangulation. The “glorious defenders of order” stole my phone and money. Photos from my phone later became the basis for initiating a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 342 (organising, preparing, or participating in actions that constitute a severe breach of public order) of the Criminal Code of Belarus.
I spent three weeks in hospital and recovered at home for a long time. In January 2022, “masked troops” with shields and weapons burst into the apartment where I was living. I was detained again, my equipment was confiscated, my camera lenses smashed, my money taken – and never returned.
I spent 11 days in the Minsk temporary detention facility on Okrestina, in a concrete box, without sleep, with only one meal a day. Afterwards, I was transferred to Remand Centre No. 1 on “Volodarka,” where I spent 135 days. The lack of ventilation and proper lighting led to coughing up blood, constant high fever, and a severe form of conjunctivitis. Medical help was out of the question – as in that joke about “half an aspirin” being for both your head and your stomach. My cellmates helped me as much as they could.
In June 2022, I was sentenced to 3 years of restriction of freedom with placement in an open correctional facility (“khimiya”). I worked in Belarus for another three months because I had absolutely no money – not even to flee the country – but eventually I did leave Belarus.
I first moved to Georgia, where I underwent two surgeries due to the consequences of injuries inflicted by law enforcers. Then I moved to Poland, taking any work I could find: repairs, construction, electrical work. I lived on credit, trying to get out of a financial hole.
In 2025, while cycling to work on an old bike, I fell badly, sustaining a torn tendon in my arm and a leg injury. I underwent two surgeries, lost my job, and was left without income. My health insurance did not fully cover the medical expenses. Now I am in the process of a long rehabilitation; I need to pay rent and repay debts for relocation and medical treatment. I would never have asked for help, but in this situation, I simply cannot work, so I am asking for a chance to restore my health and live fully again.
Fundraising goal
€2500
€1000 – rent for 2 months
€1000 – medical expenses
€500 – debts for relocation and treatment