A Belarusian businessman living in Lithuania, Dmitry Skinderev, claims the Migration Department is planning to revoke his refugee status because of his criticism of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her inner circle. But his colourful past paints a different picture.
Skinderev is a controversial figure: he threatened an adviser to opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Vilnius, while videos in which he criticises the Belarusian opposition regularly appear on Belarusian propaganda programmes.
The businessman, who says he had “no interest in politics” until the mass protests in 2020, was also sentenced to prison in Belarus for extortion.
After realising that “the rule of law was weakening in the country”, he said he joined a civic movement in 2020 and later ended up in Lithuania.
However, the independent Belarusian outlet Nasha Niva reports that Skinderev did not participate in the protests following the disputed election results. In addition, in spring 2020, he posted a strange video address on his YouTube channel in which he claimed that unknown individuals had offered him the chance to overthrow the regime.
