Watermelon Battalion

Waltzing with him at receptions, dancing joyfully at the Slavianski Bazaar, watching hockey and accompanying him at official events. They also get to participate in the main agricultural ritual – picking watermelons. Building on this, the public mockingly dubbed these young women – seen as favourites of Aleksandr Lukashenko – the “watermelon battalion”. How exactly does their intimate connection to the “national leader” serve their interests?

Buro uncovered how time spent in the company of the “people’s nominee” translates into prestigious appointments and is monetised through salaries in state institutions and companies tied to Lukashenko’s “moneybags”.

AT THE MASTER’S TABLE

Uladlena Zaitsava, a native of Mahiliou, caught Aleksandr Lukashenko’s eye after the Miss Belarus 2021 pageant. Although the finalist didn’t win the title, she did win a lot more than that – a ticket to the VIP life.

Uladlena Zaitsava and Aleksandr Lukashenko at the New Year’s Eve Ball in the Palace of Independence. Source: president.gov.by

Journalists first spotted Zaitsava accompanied by Lukashenko at the 2021 National Youth Ball. That evening, an employee of the Mahilou Customs Office was given the honourable task of escorting the visiting politician. In July 2023, the girl sat on Lukashenko’s left at the Aleksandria Festival, and in the winter of the same year, she waltzed with the Belarusian leader at the annual Vienna Ball.

Uladlena Zaitsava is also Lukashenko’s travel companion on foreign trips. For example, in December 2023, the online publication Motolko.help reported that the young woman was part of a delegation to the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. Zaitsava was pithily listed on the delegates’ list as an “officer”.

It was no coincidence that Zaitsava ended up in the politician’s company in the UAE. After all, since the summer of 2022, she has been officially listed as chief advisor in Lukashenko’s reception office.

To find out how she got the job and what her duties are, a Buro journalist called Uladlena Zaitsava. Lukashenko’s chief advisor refused to discuss her work over the phone:

After this conversation, Zaitsava blocked our journalist’s number.

Buro spoke on condition of anonymity to a former official familiar with the peculiarities of working in Lukashenko’s Presidential Office and found out what Zaitsava’s position is:

In 2024, the average gross salary of Uladlena Zaitsava was around 3,900 Belarusian rubles.

All in all, from June 2022 to September 2024, Zaitsava received nearly 97,500 rubles from the state budget before deductions for the National Social Security Fund and income tax.

Zaitsava has got company in Lukashenko’s team – Katsiaryna Humeniuk. As early as 2020, she was in the media spotlight during the celebration of Independence Day – July 3. Lukashenko’s three sons can also be seen in the video.

Katsiaryna Humeniuk (dressed in green) celebrating Independence Day in Minsk. Source: Freeze image of the ONT.by transmission

That same year, the young woman graduated from Minsk State Linguistic University and attended the annual alum ball, where she caught the politician’s eye.

In Lukashenko’s Presidential Office, she holds a position similar to Zaitsava’s – chief adviser.

A former Belarusian official suggested to the Buro journalist that Zaitsava and Humeniuk could be assigned to Lukashenka’s reception room:

Humeniuk has been working in Lukashenko’s reception office since April 2021, according to data provided by CyberPartisans. In 2024, the woman’s average salary reached almost 4,500 rubles. In total, from April 2021 to September 2024, she received over 141,000 rubles from the Belarusian treasury.

According to the former civil servant, working in Lukashenko’s Presidential Office is not only about a decent salary but also a stepping stone to a “bright future”:

“THE SPRING QUEEN”

A vivid example of the career heights that can be achieved through dedicated service to the Office is the 2013 Spring Queen competition winner, Lukashenko’s former “iconic assistant” – Daria Shmanay.

Daria Shmanay. Source: Daria Shmanay’s Vkontakte profile

The press first focused on Shmanay in 2014, during Lukashenko’s address to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly in the Oval Hall. Later in the interview, the beauty pageant winner said she was “working up there”. However, she did not specify where or as what.

According to data provided to Buro by CyberPartisans, Daria Shmanay officially became an employee of the Lukashenko Presidential Office on March 31, 2014. The young woman catered to the politician until January 2020, when she began working at the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. She was appointed second secretary of the main personnel department of the Belarusian embassy in Russia in February 2021. In November 2022, she was promoted to Minister Counselor.

Buro asked the former civil servant about the particularities of working in this position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Even though Daria Shmanay works in the embassy in Russia, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry has been paying her salary regularly all this time. In five years, it has totalled almost 120,000 Belarusian rubles before deductions to the National Social Security Fund and income tax. In 2024, for example, her gross salary was around 3,600 Belarusian rubles a month.

A Buro journalist contacted Daria Shmanay’s mother. The woman declined to share her daughter’s number but said she would “pass along [our journalist’s] contact info, and if Daria wants, she’ll call back herself”.

Lukashenko’s state apparatus is probably not made of rubber, and it’s not feasible to fit the entire “watermelon battalion” into cushy spots in the administration and foreign ministry. Fortunately, Aleksandr Lukashenko has a lot of loyalists in his arsenal. They are his so-called moneybags. They took on the burden of paying the politician’s fancy women.

MY FIRST TEACHER

On September 1, 2011, Aleksandr Lukashenko attended a school ceremony in Astrashytski Haradok, not in his capacity as the head of state, but as the father of his youngest son, Nikolai, who was starting first grade.

The footage shot in the office of the educational institution shows a young teacher, Maria Bahamolava.

Maria Bahamolava (right) harvesting watermelons with Aleksandr Lukashenko. Source: belta.by

In 2011, she transferred from the Minsk Secondary School No. 121 to the district school. According to BelPol, Bahamolava undertook several placements in the UK while teaching “Child No. 1”, including professional development courses for foreign teachers of English at London Metropolitan University, English Teacher Refresher courses, courses at the London School of English, and an advanced course in English language and teaching methods at Magna Carta College Oxford.

In 2015, Nikolai Lukashenko entered the fifth grade, and Bahamolava could no longer teach the heir to the Belarusian leader. However, Nikolai Lukashenko’s first teacher remained at the school in Astrashytski Haradok until August 2016. After that, she took a position in the protocol service of Slavkali, the company owned by Mikhail Gutseriev, often referred to as Lukashenko’s “moneybag”.

In September 2020, Maria Bahamolava was back in the classroom. She got a job at the newly opened Minsk International Gymnasium, an elite school in the Drazdy estate founded by Nikolai Lukashenko’s mother, Iryna Abelskaya, with money from Gutseriev. Bahamolava worked at Minsk International Gymnasium for less than a year. Her contract ended in June 2021.

In January 2022, Maria Bahamolava joined the business empire of another influential Belarusian entrepreneur, Aliaksandr Mashenski, becoming part of Santa Retail. She worked at Santa Retail for just six months as a specialist in the foreign economic activity department, receiving a gross salary of 12,300 rubles. In August 2022, Bahamolava got a job as a teacher at the capital’s QSI International School, which is mainly attended by children of embassy staff in Minsk.

OLD FRIENDS AND OLD WINE ARE THE BEST

Alina Roskach, born in Svetlahorsk, may have caught Lukashenko’s eye while competing in Miss Belarus 2016.

Alina Roskach attending the St. John the Baptist's Day in Aleksandria, accompanied by Aleksandr Lukashenko and Mikhail Gutseriev. Source: president.gov.by

At that time, she did not win any titles, but she received a cash grant from the company Belglobalstart, owned by Lukashenko’s “moneybag” Siarhei Tsiatseryn, because her parents are diseased. This is unprecedented in the competition’s history. The amount of the grant was not disclosed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko used to watch the competition from the audience. But in 2016, the Belarusian leader made a speech from the stage:

Alina Roskach was really on the radar for a while. In 2018, she participated in the Snow Sniper biathlon tournament in Raubichy with Lukashenko. And in the summer of that year, at the St. John the Baptist’s Day in Aleksandria, Roskach sat between Lukashenko and his “money bag”, Mikhail Gutseriev.

Thanks to CyberPartisans, we discovered that Alina Roskach’s entire career was linked to Siarhei Tsiatseryn’s structures.

Since 2019, Roskach has worked as a leading specialist in organisational and human resources management at Tsiatseryn’s company, Belglobalstart – the same enterprise that had awarded her a cash grant during the Miss Belarus competition.

In the autumn of 2020, Roskach took on a second job at the Community company, which was reorganised a year later into a new legal entity, Foodcommunity. As of 2021, Roskach’s position was a human resources specialist. Foodcommunity is also linked to Tsiatseryn. From 2019 to 2023, the company was owned by Dzmitry Zhyrmant, Tsiatseryn’s son-in-law. In 2023, ownership was transferred to his wife, Tatsiana, who is Tsiatseryn’s daughter.

Foodcommunity owns three food service outlets at Minsk National Airport: the Strava and Community cafes in the international area and the Bagel Community cafe in the departure area to the Russian Federation.

According to the financial statements for 2023, Foodcommunity suffered significant losses, apparently due to the cancellation of all flights from Belarus to the West. According to the 2024 results, the company was in the black, but in September, all three cafes were put up for sale for 380,000 Belarusian rubles.

Our journalist called Alina Roskach to find out whether Lukashenko had patronised her during her work in the structures of Siarhei Tsiatseryn, but when she heard the name “Buro”, the woman said she was busy, hung up and blocked our reporter.

Apparently, there wasn’t too much work to be done in the Tsiatseryns’ companies, and in the autumn of 2021, Roskach took on a third job – as a human resources specialist in the newly established Mirovision company, which specialises in placing advertisements in the media. Its owner is a certain Siarhei Halabarodzka.

In 2024, Roskach’s salary at Belglobalstart was about 2,000 rubles a month before the social security fund and income tax deductions. She received another 407 rubles at Foodcommunity. For six years of work at Tsiatseryn’s company, the young woman was paid almost 110,000 Belarusian rubles gross.

Alina Roskach also receives a modest salary from Mirovision – 703.5 Belarusian rubles gross per month. From 2021 to 2024, the company credited her with 20,500 Belarusian rubles.

Journalists often noticed Alina Roskach’s friend Daria Krauchuk, born in Niasvizh, accompanying Aleksandr Lukashenko.

Daria Krauchuk with Aleksandr Lukashenko at the “Our Children” fundraiser. Source: president.gov.by

In 2017, the then-journalism student at the Belarusian State University won the title of first runner-up at the Miss Spring beauty pageant. In December 2018, Krauchuk already sat at Lukashenko’s right at the “Our Children” charity event. That same month, she was the guest of honour at a New Year’s Eve Ball at the Palace of Independence. In late August 2019, Daria Krauchuk took part in the traditional watermelon harvest led by the politician, and in September, she accompanied Lukashenko and his youngest son Nikolai to a Continental Hockey League match.

According to data obtained by the Buro from CyberPartisans, since October 2019, Daria Krauchuk has been listed as an employee of the company Tabak – Invest, which is co-owned by Lukashenko’s “money bag” Pavel Topouzidis.

In June 2023, Daria Krauchuk got married and took the name Marchanka. On her Instagram account, the woman describes herself as an interior designer. However, she continued to work at Tabak – Invest until at least January 2024.

We called Daria Krauchuk, and the young woman told our reporter that she was still working at Tabak – Invest but was on her way out. The journalism graduate also claimed that, while working for Lukashenko’s “moneybags”, she was employed in her field of expertise – handling public relations.

Speaking to Buro, Krauchuk denied that she got the job at Tabak – Invest thanks to Lukashenko’s lobbying, insisting that she got the job at the company independently:

FROM LODGE TO BED?

However, we will probably never know what Vasilevich would have looked like in that collective farm in Shklou. She was destined for a very different fate.

Maria Vasilevich and Aleksandr Lukashenko at the New Year’s Eve Ball in the Palace of Independence. Source: president.gov.by

Aleksandr Lukashenko was in the audience watching the triumph of 21-year-old Maria Vasilevich at the Miss Belarus 2018 beauty pageant. Apparently, the young woman so charmed the head of Belarus that she became his regular companion and, for a time, his top favourite.

Since then, Vasilevich has made occasional appearances in Lukashenko’s company. She participated in the national community clean-up of the Stalin Fortification Line and accompanied him to the ceremonies and competitions of the Second European Games, the Slavianski Bazaar in Vitsebsk and the celebration of the millennium of Brest. At a Minsk Dynamo ice hockey match, the Belarusian head of state hugged the beauty of the title in a burst of joy.

In May 2019, Vasilevich made it to the blue screen – she became a co-host of the morning show “Good Morning, Belarus!” on the Belarus 1 TV channel. In November of that year, she became the youngest deputy of that convocation in the National Assembly’s House of Representatives.

As a lawmaker, she championed the Responsible Animal Treatment Act, passed by the House of Representatives in February 2024. Maria Vasilevich’s tenure as a deputy from December 2019 to March 2024 cost the state budget a total of 213,000 Belarusian rubles before taxes.

Vasilevich’s mandate ended in 2024, and she announced she would not run for a second term. Thanks to CyberPartisans, Buro discovered how the former MP’s career developed.

In April 2024, Vasilevich founded Amalem, which is involved in wholesale pharmaceutical, veterinary, medical and orthopaedic products. The former representative of the legislative power owns 49% of the shares. 51% of the company belongs to Alena Kazak, Lukashenko’s personal intensivist. Buro recently reported on Kazak in an investigation entitled “Lukashenko’s invisible attendants”.

Our journalist called Maria Vasilevich to find out why the former MP entered the pharmaceutical business. Speaking to Buro, Vasilevich denied having anything to do with Amalem:

Maria Vasilevich has not addressed her connection to Alena Kazak, Lukashenko’s personal doctor.

In 2024, according to the accounts, Amalem had no real activities and no profit. However, a loan of 1.6 million Belarusian rubles was granted to the company.

In addition, Maria Vasilevich joined Ligmaton, a private pharmaceutical company, as a lead commercial specialist in July 2024. Until August 2024, it was controlled by the families of tobacco magnates Pavel Topuzidis and Viktar Piatrovich.

GENDER GAP

As we can see, due to their intimate access to Aleksandr Lukashenko, the politician’s temporary companions quickly climb the career ladder, securing well-paid positions in government institutions and private companies linked to business figures close to the regime.

Almost all female subjects in this investigation are veterans of beauty pageants. Buro asked Maryna Mentusava, a gender equality educator, why it might be important for Lukashenko to have not only young and beautiful girls in his entourage but also “certified” beauty contestants:

According to gender researcher Iryna Sidorskaya, the fact that Lukashenko’s ex-favourites have “reached the pinnacle of their careers” is no coincidence but rather a regular occurrence. The Belarusian authorities actively promote the idea that beauty, youth, and submissiveness equate to social advancement for women:

Speaking to Buro, feminist activist Nasta Bazar identified the objectification of women as one of the most pressing problems with beauty pageants:

As our investigation has shown, the rapid rise of the female subjects of the article is inextricably linked to personal contact with Aleksandr Lukashenko. The female experts we interviewed insist that this form of “contract” is nothing less than an abuse of power.

The National Beauty School is an unofficial training ground for Lukashenko’s entourage. It is this organisation, funded from the state budget, that looks for candidates for Miss Belarus and forms a “battalion” of the business protocol service, which is broadly responsible for “representing” Lukashenko in the political arena.