Former political prisoner from Tsikhanouski’s team denied refugee status in Poland

Former political prisoner Andrei Novikau, one of Siarhei Tsikhanouski’s longtime associates, has found himself in a legal limbo. He holds a Russian passport but cannot return either to Belarus or Russia. Meanwhile, Polish authorities have twice denied him refugee status, outlet Zerkalo reports.

Novikau is 55 years old. He was born in the Vitsebsk region, but after school moved to Russia, where he obtained Russian citizenship. He lived in the Russian Far East, served in the police and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 2013, he returned to Belarus, settled in the Pastavy district and took up farming.

In 2020, Novikau joined Tsikhanouski’s team and for some time volunteered for Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s initiative group, advising on security matters. On June 6, 2020, he was detained. He spent six months in the Valadarka pre-trial detention center before being taken to Russia and banned from entering Belarus for 10 years.

Novikau later moved to Poland. In April 2021, he secretly returned to Belarus to help his family. He was detained again and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. He was released on October 31, 2022, and immediately deported to Russia.

Novikau says that after personal correspondence with the Polish embassy and consul, Poland issued humanitarian visas to his entire family. In 2023, the former political prisoner arrived in Warsaw and returned to his previous job at a transport company.

In November of the same year, Novikau applied for international protection in Poland. He says he personally collected all the documents himself:

“Everything I had: verdicts, release certificates, yellow tags, names, surnames, identities of everyone who abused me there, starting from Valadarka detention center, the Vitsebsk detention center, Penal Colony No. 2.”

Novikau says he cannot return to Belarus because he is wanted there. Journalists did not find open information about him on the websites of the Russian or Belarusian Interior Ministries. However, that does not necessarily mean he is not being sought. According to Novikau, representatives of the Vitsebsk district police tried to contact him through relatives and acquaintances.

In June 2025, Novikau received a decision from Poland’s Office for Foreigners denying him protection. He appealed to the Refugee Board and on May 12, 2026, received a second rejection.

Polish officials stated that he is a Russian citizen and that Russia does not persecute its citizens for participating in Belarusian protests unless the case is connected to the war in Ukraine. Officials pointed to the fact that after his release from a Belarusian prison colony in 2022, Novikau “obtained a Russian international passport without any problems and then traveled to Poland.”

Officials also said that Novikau “did not provide convincing arguments proving active political activity.” According to the Polish authorities, he also does not face the risk of being sent to war in Ukraine because “participation in combat operations involves contract soldiers and mobilized individuals, while the applicant did not sign a contract with the Russian army.”

The decision also stated that Novikau did not apply for international protection immediately after arriving in Poland, but only after a significant period of time, despite already being in the country earlier. According to the Refugee Board, “the applicant used the situation in his country of origin to legalize his stay in Poland for economic reasons.”

Novikau says his wife and daughter are Belarusian citizens and categorically refuse to move to Russia. Legally, he remains a Russian citizen, while he is banned from entering Belarus. At the same time, he says he risks persecution in Russia over anti-war reposts and statements.

He now has 30 days either to leave Poland or appeal to an administrative court. Novikau says he plans to seek a review of the decision.

Volha Zazulinskaya, representative for social policy in the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, told Zerkalo journalists that she is aware of Novikau’s situation. According to her, they have contacted his lawyer to clarify the details and possible next steps, but have not yet received a response.

/ Automatic translation, errors are possible.