Siamion Malashenkau. Archive photo
On December 17, 2025, the KGB recognized the initiative “Da Zorau” as an extremist formation, which, according to law enforcement, includes musician Ales Chumakou and 20-year-old Minsk resident Siamion Malashenkau – the son of a “Sputnik” propagandist. Both were arrested. It appears that a whole group of civic and cultural activists was detained along with them.
“‘Siamion Malashenkau is a perfectly normal guy, and he doesn’t hold the same ‘Russian world’ views as his father. It’s very regrettable that he was detained for organizing concerts that were absolutely legal. I wouldn’t be surprised if his father wrote a denunciation,’ – such a comment was left by someone under this news story on Nasha Niva’s website.
Павялічыць
Vasil Malashenkau. Photo: ukraina.ru
Siamion’s father, Vasil Malashenkau, is a native of Kemerovo, from a family with Belarusian roots, and a philologist by education: he graduated from Kemerovo State University. He came to Belarus in 2004, and the following year Siamion was born.
Malashenkau Sr. worked in various state media (for about seven years at the BelTA agency), and also collaborated (and continues to collaborate) with Sputnik and MIA ‘Rossiya Segodnya’. His texts and photo credits also appear on Moscow-funded platforms such as ‘Sayuznoye Vyecha’, Eurasia.Expert, ‘SONAR-2050’, Imhoclub.com.
Vasil is a supporter of the ‘Russian World’ and ‘traditional values’, an active defender of the ROC. He is a father of five children, one of the founders of the conservative civic association ‘Council of Parents’ (where ‘parents’ refers not to both parents, but specifically fathers).
In 2023, the journalist visited the occupied Donetsk region and was in Mariupol. He runs a Telegram channel where he criticizes, and often insults, opponents of the Russian and Belarusian regimes.
On Facebook yesterday, Vasil Malashenkau posted a condemnation of the American arrest of President Maduro. But there is nothing about the arrest of his own son.
We asked YouTuber Usiaslau Pashkevich, who was friends with Siamion while living in Minsk, about Siamion’s situation.
Pashkevich met Siamion in 2019. Siamion was only 14 years old then, but he was already ‘participating in all Belarusian-language chats, all events. Everywhere there was Belarusian buzz, he was there too’.
Siamion was charged with Belarusian spirit, says Usiaslau.
“‘Belarusian culture was everything to him. It was phenomenal: it seemed as if he was born with the word “Belarus” on his lips. He tried not to miss a single event: exhibitions, gatherings, concerts. Maximally charged with Belarusian spirit. Not focused on the past – he was interested in contemporary culture in all its manifestations, decent music. He tried to create a YouTube channel. He maximally enjoyed what he was doing.'”
What do you know about the Malashenkau family?
“‘He didn’t talk about his family. But he spoke about his relationship with his father. They didn’t get along. And he suffered from that. He loved his father but suffered because their views diverged completely.'”
However, Usiaslau Pashkevich doesn’t think this whole story was the result of his father’s denunciation.
“‘A denunciation? I can’t say, I don’t know. There are many families where relationships don’t work out, but people don’t write denunciations against each other.'”
It’s not surprising that Malashenkau was arrested for his participation in a cultural initiative.
“‘When Siamion and I were generating new ideas for YouTube in 2021, Siamion’s first ideas were about music. He loved music very much. He introduced me to people who became decisive in my life.'”
“‘He is a sharp person, can be a bit toxic. But at the same time, he is exceptionally empathetic,’ recalls Usiaslau.”
Павялічыць
Siamion Malashenkau, photo from his Instagram
“‘When I left Belarus, I cut off contact with him – for security reasons, for his security, so as not to put him at risk,’ he says.”
Usiaslau Pashkevich recalls his last conversation with Siamion Malashenkau.
“‘It was 2021. The year when clouds were gathering. We unexpectedly ran into each other in Minsk on Valhahradskaya street, near the electromechanical plant, where there’s also a monument to Lenin, with him and Ihar Palynski from ‘Sumarok’. Right after that chance meeting, I decided to leave Belarus, because Ihar told me how to practically do it. Siamion wasn’t thinking about emigration,’ Usiaslau recounts.”
25-year-old Usiaslau Pashkevich has been in exile for four years now. A criminal case was opened against him in absentia, his channel ‘Tuteyshy Shlyakhtsich’, which popularizes Belarusian history, culture, and language, was recognized as extremist.
“‘Siamion, I remember, in both 2020 and 2021, tried to keep a low profile. He said it was related to his father,’ Usiaslau recalls.
After all, he was only 15 in 2020, just a schoolboy. And afterwards, he limited himself to cultural activities.
Павялічыць
Siamion Malashenkau, photo from his Instagram
Belarusian authorities consider ‘extremism’ to include subscriptions to independent channels, media, the presence of links to them on social networks, or the presence of Belarusian national, pre-Lukashenka symbols on social networks or on personal items. ‘Extremism’ also includes practically any criticism of the authorities, official historical narratives, or expressions of solidarity with Ukraine. Activities not controlled by the authorities are also considered ‘extremist’. Repressions of various kinds have already affected about 150,000 people, and several hundred thousand more have been forced to leave Belarus.
According to Nasha Niva, Siamion was detained on November 27, 2025. All his pages on social networks and internet platforms have disappeared; everything he created is inaccessible.