Blogger Alyaksandr Rykau (BalaganOFF) has published screenshots of Instagram stories allegedly showing Anzhalika Melnikava in a GYM24 fitness club in Minsk. Reform.news analysed the images but was unable to confirm that they are fake.
“I received these photos two days ago… Or did I just miss something? I didn’t publish them because I still don’t understand — fake or real? They say Minsk, Anzhalika Melnikava,” the blogger wrote.
The screenshots appear to be reposts from the Instagram account of fitness trainer Halina Kazantsava (@kazantsava_fitness), a partner trainer of the GYM24 network. Her social media features numerous photos from gyms with recognisable interiors.
The images featuring Melnikava were taken in these gyms. One of the photos can be clearly identified as being from the “Vostok” gym on Nezavisimosti Avenue, 134, based on its distinctive colours, logo, windows, and floor tiles. The facility opened in January 2025.
Modern technologies make it possible to alter images, including replacing faces. The quality of deepfakes does not allow a definitive conclusion as to whether the images are manipulated.
However, certain details are noteworthy. Melnikava has a tattoo of a warrior on her left forearm, which she spoke about in an interview with Belsat, saying she got it in 2023.
The screenshots published by Rykau appear to show a tattoo of similar shape and size. While this too could be replicated, it would require additional effort.
What conclusions can be drawn? The photos are not archival and were taken no earlier than January 2025. It is possible that someone edited the images and superimposed Melnikava’s face onto another person, but the execution suggests attention to detail. It is not possible to state definitively that the images are fake.
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Anzhalika Melnikava, former speaker of the Coordination Council, disappeared on February 26, 2025. Officially, she flew to London, but in reality her route went via Sri Lanka to Dubai, where her trail was lost. Subsequently, documents from the Coordination Council were downloaded from her account, and about $150,000 disappeared from the account of the Poland-based Belarus Liberty Foundation, which she managed in the interests of the Cyber Partisans.
Investigators have also reported possible links between Melnikava and Belarusian KGB officer Aliaksei Labeyeu. It is alleged that in 2022 she failed an initial polygraph test conducted by the BYPOL initiative, but was accepted after a second test.
A reward of €10,000 has been announced for information on her whereabouts.
The Polish prosecutor’s office is treating the former Coordination Council speaker as a victim and is investigating the circumstances of her departure from Poland. According to Pavel Latushka, head of the National Anti-Crisis Management, her children are currently in Belarus, while she is not with them.
