Man shot, to be tried for terrorism for damaging railway equipment

November 1, BPN. Prosecutors have sent to court a criminal case against a 40-year-old man accused of damaging a railway relay cabinet between Navasady and Barysaŭ, Minsk region, in March 2022, the prosecutor general’s press office said.

He faces charges of terrorism, insulting Alaksandr Łukašenka, and illegal purchase and possession of firearms.

Human rights defenders assume that the defendant’s name is Vital Mielnik.

Prosecutors say that he disabled the railway alarm system, creating risks of accidents and damage to trains and endangering people’s lives.

Police allegedly found unregistered pistols in his car and home. Prosecutors also confirmed that police officers had shot and wounded the suspect iin the legs during his arrest.

Acts of sabotage were reported on Belarusian railways after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 as a form of anti-war protest. Railway relay cabinets were damaged in several locations throughout Belarus. The goal was to slow the transportation of Russian military equipment through Belarus to the warzone.