BYSOL evacuates journalist Kseniya Lutskina

On the morn­ing of March 4, BYSOL co-founder Andrei Stryzhak announced that Kseniya Lut­ski­na had left Belarus and was now in a safe loca­tion.

Andrei Stryzhak and Kseniya Lut­ski­na. Pho­to: Andrei Stryzhak, March 4, 2025

Kseniya Lut­ski­na is a for­mer jour­nal­ist and cor­re­spon­dent for Bel­tel­era­dio­com­pa­ny, where she worked until August 2020. For 15 years at BT, she exclu­sive­ly pro­duced doc­u­men­tary films and his­tor­i­cal reports—her back­ground is in his­to­ry. Some of her notable projects include Ter­ra Incog­ni­ta (“Unknown Belarus”) and 1418 Days: The Sto­ry of Vic­to­ry about World War II.

In August 2020, she joined the strike of Bel­tel­era­dio­com­pa­ny employ­ees. After being dis­missed, she became a core mem­ber of the Coor­di­na­tion Coun­cil. She was arrest­ed along­side the defen­dants in the “Press Club case,” most of whom were released before tri­al.

Kseniya Lut­ski­na. Cour­tesy pho­to

Lut­ski­na was charged with con­spir­a­cy or oth­er actions aimed at seiz­ing state pow­er and sen­tenced to eight years in prison. She was released before serv­ing her full sen­tence in August 2024, just days after Lukashen­ka announced the release of some polit­i­cal pris­on­ers with seri­ous health issues.

While impris­oned, Lutskina’s health deteriorated—she had to take painkillers almost con­stant­ly and was sys­tem­at­i­cal­ly excused from work due to poor health. She has can­cer: doc­tors found two tumors in her brain, one of which was removed in 2012.

BYSOL has launched a fundrais­er to sup­port Kseniya Lutskina’s med­ical treat­ment and adap­ta­tion.