26 Years Ago, Yuri Zakharenko Was Murdered.
9- 7.05.2025, 12:20
- 5,828
We remember.
On May 7, 1999, former Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus Yuri Zakharanka disappeared on his way home, near Mogilevskaya Street in Minsk. At that time he was 47 years old.
Yury Zakharenko started his career as an investigator, headed the investigative department, until 1991 he was the head of the Interior Department of Gomel Regional Executive Committee. Then he was the head of the Investigation Department, and then headed the Investigation Committee of the Interior Ministry of Belarus.
Immediately after Lukashenko's election, he was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs. In one of the interviews, Zakharenko mentioned a conversation with the head of the Security Council Viktor Sheiman, who insisted that the minister should "fulfill any order of the president."
"I will not shoot people, I will not violate the Constitution," the head of the law enforcement agency replied at the time. In October 1995, Lukashenko sent Zakharenko into retirement, and later the former minister was demoted to the rank of police colonel and dismissed from the Interior Ministry.
Shortly thereafter, Yuri Zakharenko moved to the side of the opposition. In February 1998, he headed the security committee of the "shadow government". In the spring of 1999, Zakharenko actively participated in the opposition-organized campaign for the presidential election, was a member of the team of former Prime Minister Mikhail Chigir, traveled around the country, organized groups to collect signatures. On May 7, 1999, he called home, telling his wife: "I'll come soon, cook dinner," but he never returned home.
In 1999 - 2000, acting chairman of the Supreme Soviet Viktor Gonchar, businessman Anatol Krasouski, former head of the Interior Ministry Yuri Zakharanka and journalist Dmitry Zavadski disappeared without a trace in Belarus.
Subsequently, documents were made public, including a report by Deputy Interior Minister Nikolai Lopatik, which showed that opposition politicians and public figures had been massacred by a death squad. It was given orders by the country's top leadership.
On December 17, 2019, Deutsche Welle published sensational confession of a former SOBR fighter Yuri Garavsky.
In September 2019, Yuri Garavsky contacted the Russian edition of Deutsche Welle, claiming that 20 years ago he participated in the kidnappings and murders of Belarusian opposition activists who were opponents of Lukashenko. Garavski claims that in 1999-2003 he was a fighter of the SOBR - special rapid reaction unit of the Interior Ministry of Belarus. According to Garavsky, on orders from above, he and his fellow soldiers kidnapped and killed former Interior Minister Yuri Zakharenko, former head of the Central Election Commission Viktor Hanchar, and businessman Anatoly Krasovsky, who supported the Belarusian opposition.
In the spring and fall of 1999, the three men disappeared. The investigation of their disappearances in Belarus was not completed. In 2004, special rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Christos Pourgourides, having studied all the circumstances, came to the conclusion that Zakharanka, Hanchar and Krasouski were kidnapped and killed by SOBR fighters under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Dmitri Pavlichenko with the knowledge of the country's leadership. This version is shared by human rights activists and relatives of the missing, but it has not yet been proved.
41-year-old Yuri Garavski fled from Belarus to Europe, where he asked for political asylum. He showed DW the originals and copies of some documents supporting his claims.
Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims
You can contact us by the e-mail charter97@gmail.com
