Yury Zacharanka

Colonel Yury Mikalevich Zakharanka (Belarusian: Юрый Мікалаевіч Захаранка; Russian: Юрий Захаренко, romanized: Yuri Zakharenko; 1 January 1952 – disappeared 9 May 1999) was a Belarusian military officer, politician, and pro-democracy activist who served as Minister of Internal Affairs from 1994 to 1995. Following his departure from office, Zakharanka became a leading member of the Belarusian opposition, leading to his enforced disappearance and likely death in 1999.

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions, the patronymic is Mikalevich and the family name is Zakharanka.
Yury Zakharanka
Юрый Захаранка
Minister of Internal Affairs
In office
28 July 1994 – 16 October 1995
PresidentAlexander Lukashenko
Prime MinisterMikhail Chyhir
Preceded byUladzimir Danko
Succeeded byValiantsin Ahalets
Personal details
Born(1952-01-01)1 January 1952
Vasilyevichy, Soviet Union
Political partyUnited Civic Party of Belarus
SpouseVolha Zakharanka
Childrentwo daughters
Military service
AllegianceSoviet Union
Belarus
Branch/serviceLaw Enforcement
RankMajor general (1994)
Colonel (1996)
CommandsInter-regional Directorate for Combating Organized Crime
Disappeared7 May 1999 (aged 47)
StatusMissing for 23 years, 10 months and 9 days

Early life

Yury Zakharanka was born in a small Belarusian town of Vasilyevichy, Rechytsa Raion. His parents met in a labor camp in Cologne, Germany, in 1943. His father was Belarusian while his mother was of Ukrainian origin.[1]

Zakharanka has a daughter with Volha Zakharanka.[2]

Political career

At the moment when Belarus gained independence Zakharanka was deputy chief of the USSR MVD Inter-regional Directorate for Combating Organized Crime. In 1994 he was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus. On October 16, 1995 he was dismissed from this position by president Alexander Lukashenko. Zakharanka joined the opposition to the president and was elected member of the governing board of the United Civic Party of Belarus.[3] Having strong support among top officers in the army and the State Security Committee (KGB), Zakharanka was a dangerous enemy for Lukashenko.

Abduction

The ex-minister disappeared on the evening of May 7, 1999. The state did not make serious attempts to search for the politician. Several years later the former MVD official Aleh Alkaeu fled to Germany and stated that he was witness to Zakharanka and several other abducted opposition leaders being murdered on the orders of top government officials.[4][5] In commemoration of the abducted politicians and political prisoners of Belarus, the Belarusian opposition and its supporters have The Day of Solidarity with Belarus on the 16th of every month.[6]

In September 2004, the European Union and the United States issued travel bans for five Belarusian officials suspected of being involved in the kidnapping of Zakharanka: Interior Affairs Minister Vladimir Naumov, Prosecutor General Viktor Sheiman, Minister for Sports and Tourism Yuri Sivakov, and Colonel Dmitry Pavlichenko from the Belarus Interior Ministry.[7]

In December 2019, Deutsche Welle published a documentary film in which Yury Harauski, a former member of the Special Rapid Response Unit, confirmed that it was his unit that had arrested, taken away and murdered Zakharanka, and that they later did the same with Viktar Hanchar and Anatol Krasouski.[8] Harauski fled to Switzerland in 2018, seeking asylum.[9] In 2023 Harauski was arrested and charged with the forced disappearance of Zacharanka, Hanchar and Krasouski.[9] Harauski's trial in a Swiss court opened on 19 September 2023.[9]

See also

References
  1. Соўсь, Ганна (2021-05-09). "Хто, як і чаму? 20 гадоў таму выкралі экс-міністра ўнутраных справаў Захаранку". Радыё Свабода (in Belarusian). Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  2. "22 years since the disappearance of Yury Zacharanka". Фонд "СТРАНА ДЛЯ ЖИЗНИ". Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  3. Biography at slounik.org
  4. Oleg Alkaev: Video Records of Zacharanka, Hančar and Krasoŭski’s Murders Exist Indeed
  5. Orders to Annihilate Zakharenko, Gonchar and Krasovsky Emanated from Sheiman and Sivakov
  6. Solidarity with Belarus
  7. "USA, EU declare Belarus officials personas non grata". Pravda. 28 September 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  8. "Belarus: How death squads targeted opposition politicians". Deutsche Welle. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  9. "Former Belarus 'hit squad' member to stand trial in Switzerland". BBC News. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
    "Belarus ex-police stands trial over vanished Lukashenko opponents". France24. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
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