The legendary colonel almost died in a Belarusian cell
Not long ago, retired Colonel Nikolai Petrushenko, a member of the last Supreme Soviet of the USSR, disappeared from the radar in Belarus. He wasn't answering his phone and had deleted all his social media accounts. Nikolai Semyonovich is far from young, so there was considerable concern. But he turned out okay, although things could have ended the worst: the "Black Colonel," legendary during the twilight of the Soviet Union, nearly died behind bars.
The first trial took place on April 25. The day before, Nikolai Semenovich was full of optimism, saying that the case would fall apart due to lack of evidence or would be dismissed for lack of evidence of an offense, but, alas, he was wrong. That day the case was sent for further investigation, and soon Petrushenko disappeared.
The news broke yesterday. It turns out he was sentenced to 10 days in jail for distributing extremist materials. These materials turned out to be from a now-banned white-red-white website, which the colonel had reposted back in 2018.
Despite the fact that the legislation was more lenient at the time, the website wasn't deemed extremist, and the law isn't retroactive, the court ruled that the offense was ongoing and that Petrushenko was guilty of failing to delete a post he'd made several years ago. On the seventh day in his cell, he developed a perforated ulcer. Fortunately, he was taken to the hospital in time.
An example of those very “extremist materials”. An ordinary family story, but the site is considered extremist.
For the same thing, the long-term coordinator of the “Immortal Regiment” in Vitebsk, Elvira Mirsalimova, was awarded a large fine, and another Vitebsk activist, Alexander Andreikov, is awaiting trial for the same thing.
Needless to say, none of them are white-red-white protesters or extremists . I was also denounced in the same way, but we avoided any problems then. Although I wouldn't say the problems have disappeared—the local police officer came by on Monday, asked to see my Telegram subscriptions, took a picture of my phone, but found no evidence of sedition. This isn't a coincidence, but a pattern.
Pro-Russian activists who do not oppose Lukashenko, one by one, on formal grounds, receive fines and a day to the applause and hooting of “systemic nationalists” and denunciations of non-systemic nationalists.
As for Petrushenko, he was a legend in the late 80s and early 90s. He first gained notoriety, then still a major, in 1986, when he declared from the podium at a major meeting that in our 155th Motorized Rifle Division, which guarded the Soviet-Chinese border, more than 75% of incidents related to hazing, or more simply "dedovshchina," stemmed from unhealthy interethnic conflicts.
The visiting general reined in the presumptuous major, but just a couple of weeks later, Alma-Ata erupted in pogroms that simply reeked of nationalism . To the general's credit, he immediately called the insolent major and asked his opinion on the events, after which he earned the reputation of being the best "political scientist" in the entire Turkestan District.
He entered politics already in 1989, when Gorbachev decided to hold popular elections. By that time, Lieutenant Colonel Petrushenko had already traveled all over Eastern Kazakhstan, even going down into the adit of the Semipalatinsk test site with a Geiger counter, speaking to voters everywhere without a piece of paper. Bright, expressive, engaged in self-education all his life, he easily beat the party bosses and became the People's Deputy of the USSR.
In the Soviet parliament, Petrushchenko earned the nickname "the black colonel"—he was a member of the "Union" parliamentary group and was one of the most uncompromising supporters of preserving the Union. Rumor has it that he even plotted an assassination attempt on Gorbachev.
After the collapse of the USSR, Petrushenko returned to Belarus, to the small town of Kokhanovo, but even there, his active nature and demand for justice prevented him from becoming an ordinary, privileged military retiree . He butted heads with officials, wrote appeals and journalistic articles, and engaged in public activity. He joined the Communist Party (not the official one, but the opposition one). He seemed interested in everything, from geopolitics to beekeeping. He remained prickly, but in 2020, he unconditionally supported Lukashenko.
In general, all that remains is to wish Nikolai Semenovich health and longevity.
Legendary Colonel Nearly Died in Belarusian Prison Cell