Изображение: BYSOL
BYSOL has not recorded any significant decline in the number of donations or donors following harassment allegations against the fund’s co-founder Andrej Stryzhak. The update was provided by BYSOL’s chief operating officer Hanna Dapshevichute during a briefing.
Despite the suspension of cooperation with the International Humanitarian Fund, BYSOL has continued its one-time assistance programme for families of political prisoners and those who have been released. In October, BYSOL paid out €21,000 under its €1,000 support programme for political prisoners. Payments under the emergency September fundraising campaign are nearly complete.
Sixteen personal fundraising campaigns have been completed, totalling €34,908. Representatives of the fund described the number and size of donations as “average” or “typical”: neither a decline nor a sharp increase has been observed.
Regarding evacuation support, five departures were organised in October, and 16 requests were processed. The border closures have not directly affected this track.
BYSOL continues to provide free consultations to Belarusians inside Belarus as well as those who have left the country. Last month, 172 consultations were carried out via the hotline. Requests related to persecution continue: people are being summoned for “conversations” and interrogations.
Andrej Stryzhak, the co-founder of BYSOL, was previously accused of harassment. A commission conducting an internal review in response to the allegation decided to fully terminate the initiative’s cooperation with Stryzhak and to remove him from all leadership, representative, managerial and founding roles within BYSOL. The fund’s directorate disagreed with the decision and introduced temporary cooperation with Stryzhak until March 2026. Following this, the International Humanitarian Fund removed BYSOL from its structure. In September, it became known that he would nevertheless leave the team.