Melnikava was against Lukashenko, but may have fallen into the trap of the secret services

Anzhalika Melnikava. Photo: belsat.eu Original article: belsat.eu

Original article: belsat.eu

Head of the National Anti-Crisis Management, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet Pavel Latushka, in a conversation with our colleagues from Centrum Europy, answered questions concerning the disappearance of former Coordination Council speaker Anzhalika Melnikava and the appearance of photographs allegedly showing her in Minsk.

Pavel Latushka emphasised that at present there is no unambiguous information regarding the disappearance of Anzhalika Melnikava. Therefore, one can only "draw conclusions based on facts."

The politician noted that Poland's Internal Security Agency is still investigating the criminal case initiated by the prosecutor's office on the grounds of Melnikava's violent deprivation of liberty. Within the framework of this case, the missing speaker holds the status of victim.

"Everything else may be assessment, speculation," said Latushka.

She did not work in the interests of the secret services

According to Pavel Latushka, the known facts show that Melnikava "always held a very concrete and open position against the regime of [Alexander] Lukashenko." He emphasised that it was thanks to her personal efforts that the Polish Senate in January 2025 recognised the Coordination Council as the Belarusian parliament in exile; that a PACE resolution was adopted on the non-recognition of Lukashenko as President of Belarus following the "elections" of 2025 and on the recognition of the Coordination Council, the United Transitional Cabinet, and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. She also paid out of her own money for a conference on holding Lukashenko accountable for crimes, when the United States refused to provide funding. Therefore, in Latushka's view, Melnikava's activities "clearly did not correspond" to the interests of Belarusian secret services.

"I cannot assert who she was. I exclude nothing. I will only state the facts. She was a member of our team, which is working effectively on holding Lukashenko accountable and for the first time in history brought about the launch of an investigation by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court," said Latushka.

According to him, she could theoretically have halted or obstructed many initiatives that were contrary to the interests of the Lukashenko and Putin secret services, but she did not do so.

"Moving from facts to speculation, I cannot exclude that at some point she may have fallen into a trap set by the secret services. What happened next, I do not know. The investigation is being conducted by the official authorities of Poland, who may know more about this," he said.

And what about the photographs?

Regarding the appearance of photographs of Melnikava from Minsk, Latushka does not exclude the possibility that this was done deliberately ahead of the visit to Minsk by US Presidential Special Envoy John Cole. At the same time, according to him, the photographs show only "a person very similar to Anzhalika," who may have been photographed in Belarus, while "everything else is conjecture."

Overall, the politician does not exclude the possibility of propagandists also producing an interview with Melnikava, with the aim, among other things, of discrediting the elections to the Coordination Council.

Unprecedented pressure

Overall, Latushka noted that the Belarusian democratic forces have no right to conduct their own counter-intelligence activities on the territory of EU countries — this is the exclusive competence of local secret services. Nevertheless, Melnikava's identity was verified with the assistance of BYPOL and the Cyber Partisans. Furthermore, she underwent vetting by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration and the intelligence services of Poland prior to receiving Polish citizenship.

According to him, the Belarusian democratic forces "are facing the greatest resistance in their history and actions aimed at destabilising and discrediting our work on the part of the secret services of the Lukashenko regime." Latushka cited "one Polish minister" who told him that "80% of the efforts of Lukashenko's secret services are directed precisely at the destruction and destabilisation of the democratic forces of Belarus." It is impossible to counter this independently, the politician said.

The story of the disappearance

As a reminder: during March 2025, Anzhalika Melnikava, through several transactions, transferred to her personal account the entire amount of the grant transferred to the Coordination Council (approximately $107,000), as well as all remaining funds in the account, including those designated for the projects of "Partisan Telegram" and support for journalistic investigations (approximately $30,000).

In total, Melnikava withdrew more than $150,000 from the account; the last transaction was made on 24 March 2024. The following day, the 25th, she ceased all communication.

It later became known that the former CR speaker had left the territory of Poland and the European Union on 26 February 2025 — travelling via the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka, she arrived in the United Arab Emirates, where her trail went cold. Prior to this, she had been in contact with Coordination Council colleagues via video link, and had not attended in-person meetings, saying she was ill.

Investigators also report on possible connections between Melnikava and KGB of Belarus officer Alexei Labeev. As far back as 2022, she allegedly failed the first polygraph test conducted by the BYPOL initiative, but was accepted after a second test. Former Polish counter-intelligence officer Anna Grabowska-Sivets suggests that Melnikava may have been recruited while still in Belarus. A reward of €10,000 is now being offered for information about her whereabouts.

Almost a year later, on 19 March 2026, photographs appeared of a woman resembling Melnikava at one of the Minsk gyms, which had only begun operating in January 2025. It is difficult to say whether these are genuine photographs or a deepfake, which is not particularly difficult to create under present-day conditions. However, following their publication, journalists from Nasha Niva managed to reach Melnikava's relatives by telephone. The father of the former CR speaker assured them that she has "been living in Belarus for quite some time," that "she has not disappeared, she is alive and well." According to the man, his daughter asked not to be called and always calls herself, but from a hidden number. Their last conversation took place in winter.

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