Svaboda reported on the detention of Ukrainian citizen Andrey Shmai in Vitebsk.

The "Voices" blog talked to Ina Makavey, a resident of Mykolaiv Oblast, who claims that her son Artyom was also arrested in Belarus.

We reprint this text.

"He didn't get into politics, he worked as a DJ"

Another citizen of Ukraine, who was detained by the Belarusian authorities, is Artyom Makavey, his mother Ina claims.

Artem is 23 years old, he worked as a DJ, traveled around Belarus with performances.

According to the mother

Iny, Artyom Makavey lived in Belarus since 2009, he had a residence permit here.

"We had a difficult life situation in 2009.

My husband died, I was in the hospital for almost a year with a broken spine.

Therefore, since 2009, Artyom has lived in Belarus, in the Kobrin district, with his grandmother.

We have many councils there.

There he graduated from school and received an education," said the detainee's mother.

Ina Makavey claims that her son was not interested in politics.

"He didn't go anywhere, he didn't write anything like that anywhere.

The only thing is that he could post some pictures in support of Ukraine on Instagram.

Those pictures were not his, he took them on the Internet.

His relatives are now at war, so it is logical that he could throw away such pictures," says Ina Makavey.

"They called the migration service, offered to take a polygraph"

Ina Makavey says that in January 2023, her son was called to the migration service and "offered to take a polygraph there."

"I was excited, I asked: "What did you do, why did you offer a polygraph?".

But the son himself did not understand what they wanted from him, why they called him.

He said that he had no problems with the law.

At the end of January, strangers in civilian clothes knocked on his door, he was afraid to open it, because he did not know who it was.

On January 27, Artem disappeared, he stopped answering my messages," says Ina Makavey.

Artem Makavey (left), a citizen of Ukraine who disappeared in Kobrin, with a friend

The woman killed the alarm, started looking for her son, wrote to his friends.

However, no one could explain anything to her.

Ina just found out that they detained not only her son, but also his friends.

As a result, they were released from custody.

Recently, Ina herself came to Belarus.

"We learned from relatives that he was detained on January 27.

The next day he was taken to Brest.

They heard from the police that he was detained by the KGB.

I went to Brest several times, went to the KGB to find out why my son was taken away, what he was guilty of.

They simply don't answer me, they evade the answer.

They even said: "Where did you get what we took?" The only thing they said: "He is a threat to the Republic of Belarus."

No more explanations," says the Ukrainian.

Ina Makavey claims that she applied to the Embassy of Ukraine in Belarus, but "they didn't help."

"I was also at the prosecutor's office.

They said there is no criminal case against my son.

Then why is he kept in the pre-trial detention center in Brest?

For what?

Did he kill or rob someone?"

- wonders the detainee's mother.

She hopes to find out the truth about Artyom's detention, and while she is going around the authorities, she brings him reports to the pre-trial detention center.

"If the KGB is involved, they don't even let the consul in"

On March 10, the ambassador of Ukraine to Belarus

Ihar Kizim said that seven Ukrainian citizens were detained in Belarus.

"Relatives and we are trying to somehow reach them, but when the KGB started, they don't even let the consul in and appoint their own lawyer, who doesn't say anything," Kizim noted.

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