KIRYL LOIKA, Evangelical Christian Baptists (Kaliadzičy, Minsk region)

Kiryl Loika (born 16 July 1980) is an Evangelical believer, a member of the Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (CCECB), a musician, a member of the ChurchBrass brass orchestra founded in 1999 at a Minsk CCECB church, a translator of church hymns into Belarusian, and a father of many children. Together with his wife, he is raising six children.

Details of the charges against him are unknown. It is presumed that his criminal prosecution is connected with the so-called “Hajun case” – a monitoring project that tracked the movement of Russian troops and military equipment across the territory of Belarus, which has been used by Russia as a staging ground for its war against Ukraine.

Kiryl Loika was reportedly detained in 2025, held in pre-trial detention, and prosecuted under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (“facilitating extremist activity”). He was convicted by the Minsk City Court in 2026. The exact date of the judgment, the term of restriction of liberty, and other details of the court decision remain unknown. According to available information, he was sentenced to restriction of liberty without placement in an open-type correctional institution (“home chemistry”).

On 29 May 2026, Kiryl Loika was added to the list of Belarusian citizens, foreign citizens and stateless persons involved in extremist activities.