In a recent YouTube video ad, a man named Sergei Dalivelia sits on a wooden chair, his hands tied behind his back. He looks straight to camera and, in a shaky voice, apologizes for criticizing the government of Belarus and President Alexander Lukashenko. “I posted offensive comments online,” he said. “I very much regret this. I regret that I wrote this without thinking.” Clicking on the ad took the viewer to a pro-government Telegram channel titled Zheltye Slivy. 

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has referred to himself as “Europe’s last dictator.” However, over the past 18 months, historic demonstrations have rocked the country. Beginning in the lead-up to the August 2020 presidential election, the protest movement reached a peak when Lukashenko won a sixth term in office with a landslide 80% of the vote. Numerous countries and international bodies, including the United States and the European Union, refused to accept the result, alleging widespread fraud and repression.

The Belarusian regime launched a swift crackdown on opposition voices. Over the past year, more than 35,000 people have been arbitrarily detained. Similar filmed confessions have provided a chilling illustration of the state’s zero-tolerance policy on dissent.

This is not the first time such footage has appeared as a YouTube ad. On May 23, a plane carrying the Belarusian blogger Roman Protasevich from Athens to Vilnius was diverted to Minsk after a report of explosives on board. Protasevich was promptly arrested and, the next day, filmed stating that he instigated anti-government protests. The video, in which the 26-year-old appeared dazed and distressed, was broadcast on Belarusian state TV.