Stsiapan Aliaksandravich Putsila (; born 27 July 1998) is a

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian journalist, blogger, film director and TV presenter, mostly known as founder of the media outlet Nexta. The

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

channel NEXTA Live he founded was at times the biggest Russian speaking channel in the world. He currently lives in exile in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Life

Putsila is the son of Aliaksandr Putsila, a sports journalist and commentator for

Belsat TV Belsat (; ; stylised as B☰LSAT) is a Polish free-to-air terrestrial and satellite television channel aimed at Belarus. The channel is a subsidiary of Telewizja Polska, TVP S.A. From the outset, it has been co-funded by the Ministry of Foreign ...

. According to his own words, Putsila had been interested in video content since his childhood. Putsila graduated from the

Belarusian Humanities Lyceum The Yakub Kolas Belarusian Humanities Lyceum () is a private secondary school, formerly located at 21 Kiraw Street in Minsk, Belarus. History It was founded in January 1990 in Minsk as a Sunday school. In September 1991, it became a permanent ful ...

in Minsk where he shot his first video clips and where he began to engage in journalism by publishing his own newspaper.

Foundation of NEXTA

In October 2015, Putsila founded the YouTube channel NEXTA, originally as a music channel. The first video that was uploaded was a video clip, "No Way Out", dedicated to the

2015 Belarusian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 11 October 2015. Long-term president Alexander Lukashenko ran for his fifth term in office, having won every presidential election since independence in 1991. He was re-elected with 84% of the vote, ...

and massive falsifications. Belarusian KGB immediately demonstrated interest in NEXTA. While Putsila was still attending school, law enforcement made visits to find information about him. In 2017 the music band broke up and Putilo started using the channel to 'accumulate the trash happening in

Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

's Belarus', making weekly reviews of state news. In that time independent media with video were scarce and Nexta soon became popular. From 2016 to 2019, Putsila attended the

University of Silesia in Katowice The University of Silesia in Katowice () is an autonomous state-run university in Katowice, Silesia Province, Poland. The university offers higher education and research facilities. It offers undergraduate, masters, and PhD degree programs, ...

to study the production of film and television content.

Political persecution and role in the 2020 protest movement

In autumn 2018, he created the Telegram channel NEXTA Live which was subscribed by 2,000 people on the first day. In the same year, Putsila was charged with "insulting the president" because of two YouTube videos. His mother's house was searched, but a few months later, the case was dismissed. In October 2019, Putsila published his documentary film "Lukashenko. Criminal records", which gained around 3 million views. In December of the same year, the film was included in the list of extremist materials of the Belarusian Ministry of Information. During the

2020–2021 Belarusian protests The 2020–2021 Belarusian protests were a series of mass Demonstration (political), political demonstrations and protests against the Government of Belarus, Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko. The largest anti-government ...

, his Telegram channel NEXTA became the leading platform covering and coordinating the opposition demonstrations. The media outlet quickly transformed from a reporting tool into a de facto coordinator of the protests. The channel content included calls for help, police maps, as well as contacts between lawyers and human rights activists. In August 2020, the main criminal investigation department of criminal police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus initiated a criminal case against Putsila. He faces up to 15 years in jail for organizing "mass riots, accompanied by violence against an individual, arson, destruction of property or armed resistance to representatives of the authorities" and other accusations. On 5 November 2020, the Investigative Committee of Belarus put Putsila along with

Roman Protasevich Roman Dmitriyevich Protasevich or Raman Dzmitryevich Pratasevich (born 5 May 1995) is a Belarusian blogger and political activist. He was the editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta and chief editor of the Telegram channel Belarus of the ...

, the former editor-in-chief of NEXTA on the international wanted list. On 19 November 2020, the Belarus KGB included Putsila and Protasevich in the list of persons involved in terrorist activities. In November 2020, Belarus applied to Poland for the extradition of Stsiapan Putsila. In January 2022, the Warsaw district court declared that Putsila's extradition would be "legally impermissible". Judge Dariusz Łubowski commented on the demands of the Belarusian government, by saying: "This country demands the extradition of a completely innocent citizen just because he has different views than the psychopathic dictator - a dictator who isn't recognised by any civilised state". As a result of that, the Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus initiated criminal proceedings against Łubowski.

Trial in absentia

In February 2023, a trial opened in a Minsk court against Putsila, Jan Rudik (both in absentia), and detained blogger and journalist

. On 21 April 2023, prosecutor Nataliya Sokolova asked for a sentence of 20 years in prison for Putsila on charges related to his role in Nexta. On 3 May 2023, Putsila was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Filmography

* 2019: * 2020: * 2021: * 2021: * 2022: * 2022: * 2023:

Awards and recognitions

Stsiapan Putsila at the Sakharov Prize award ceremony

* 2019: National Victar Ivashkevich Human Rights Prize by

Charter 97 Charter'97 (; ) is a declaration calling for democracy in Belarus and a pro-human rights online news outlet taking its inspiration from the declaration. Charter The Charter'97 declaration deliberately echoes the Czechoslovak human rights declara ...

* 2020: Award "Profession — Journalist" by the initiative

Open Russia Open Russia () is a political organisation founded by the exiled Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky with the shareholders of his firm, Yukos (a company closed in 2006). Khodorkovsky states that his organisation advocates democracy and huma ...

(was awarded to the collective NEXTA as a whole) * 2020:

Sakharov Prize The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commonly known as the Sakharov Prize, is an honorary award for individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought. Named after Russian scienti ...

for Freedom of Thought by the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

(one of the awarded representatives of the democratic opposition in Belarus) * 2020: Among the Top-5 nominees of the Polish Award * 2021: Nominee for the "30 Most Promising Russians Under 30" according to

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

magazine in the category "New Media" * 2025: Mentioned in the

magazine list "30 Under 30 - Europe - Media & Marketing"

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Putsila, Stsiapan 1998 births Living people Belarusian democracy activists Belarusian dissidents Belarusian expatriates in Poland Journalists from Minsk People convicted in absentia