Police cracking down on Małady Front – reports

March 22, Pozirk. Over the past four days, police have arrested at least 18 members of the Małady Front opposition youth organization, including four women, the activists said on Telegram.

Four persons were reportedly arrested in Łahojsk, Minsk region, late on March 21 and in the early morning on March 22, including Mikita Paciomkin and Ihar Urbanovič.

Law enforcers also arrested the whole family of the organization’s leader Dzianis Urbanovič: his brothers Maksim and Arciom, father Iosif and sister Maryla, according to Małady Front. Other reports say that only one of Urbanovič’s brothers, Maksim, was arrested and severely beaten by the Committee for State Security agents.

Dzianis Urbanovič has been heading Małady Front since 2018. Belarusian authorities persecuted him over participation in 2020 postelection protests. In late 2021, he fled to Ukraine where he later joined the Belarusian volunteers from the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment to fight Russia. He was wounded in combat in January 2023. 

Founded in 1997, Małady Front promoted patriotism among the Belarusian youth. In August 2022, authorities branded it an “extremist” group.