Yelena Leuchanka, a Belarusian basketball player, was recently arrested and kept in the Okrestina detention center for her participation in protests opposing the Lukashenko regime. Her story speaks to the broader human effects of the continuing protests in Belarus, as well as the ways that the state cultivates strong complicity amongst its constituents.
The death of Irina Slavina, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the free journalism KozaPress, is the living evidence of media censorship and violation of free speech in Russia.
French newspaper "Le Monde" leaks phone conversation between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the poisoning of Alexey Navalny. Putin supposedly claimed that Navalny may have poisoned himself with the nerve agent, as opposed to common belief that the Kremlin was behind his poisoning. The Kremlin is furious about the leak, but hasn't entirely refuted the version of the presidents' conversation provided by "Le Monde."
Teachers in St. Petersburg were instructed to search their students' social media pages for LGBT symbols and to report any student who posted an LGBT symbol to the police. This order was defended as a way of protecting children's rights, consistent with Russia's law banning "gay propaganda" from being shown to minors. However, this is an example of how LGBT youth are being denied access to crucial resources and support in a country where they are already discriminated against.
Protests against the Lukashenko regime in Belarus have been met with increased violence by police authority following the contested elections of August 9th, as officers use similar techniques of brutality against civil dissent as those recently employed in Russia. As the fight for liberal democracy in the region continues, the media plays a distinct role in presenting the harm inflicted on protestors to the general population.
