A civic activist from Homel hid in the forest to avoid arrest, ended up in a Slovak prison for his principled stance, was released, received international protection, and returned to Ukraine to resume his human rights and volunteer work. He urgently needs basic support for the initial period.
My name is Dmitry Lukomsky. Activism and human rights work are my life’s calling, because I cannot calmly watch injustice. In 2019, I became an observer at the parliamentary elections, where I documented falsifications by the election commission. In spring 2020, I became an activist of the “A Country for Life” movement in
Homel, and after the arrest of Sergei Tikhanovsky and my first 15 days of administrative arrest, I joined the initiative group of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. I organized pickets, worked with volunteers, and traveled across districts.
When the persecution of activists began, my wife and I hid for several weeks: we lived in the forest, constantly moving from place to place. Eventually, after a long manhunt and surveillance, I was detained and brutally beaten at the Central Police Department in Homel. In total, during the 2020 presidential campaign and the protests, I spent 40 days in a temporary detention facility, 11 of them in a punishment cell. In the autumn of 2020, due to the threat of criminal prosecution, I was forced to leave Belarus. That is how I ended up in Ukraine.
In Ukraine, I devoted a lot of time to training and internships in the human rights field, worked and volunteered with several NGOs. I experienced the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Dnipro, where I took part in preparations for defense and civil resistance. Later, I moved to Lviv, where together with the NGO “Educational House of Human Rights – Chernihiv” we launched the resilience shelter “Lviv Hub.” Over two years of work, we helped hundreds of people, many of them Belarusians.
In August 2024, due to document-related difficulties, my wife and I left Ukraine and went to Slovakia, where we applied for international protection. The refugee camp had numerous violations by the migration service and appalling conditions, and we had to defend our rights. In October 2024, I was detained by the police on false charges and sent to a deportation prison in the town of Sečovce. It was extremely difficult, and there was a real risk of deportation, but with the help of lawyers and the media, I achieved justice and was released after almost two months of detention.
On February 18, 2025, my wife and I were granted international protection in Slovakia. The stress we endured exacerbated my post-traumatic stress disorder, which I had developed back in 2020. Depression followed. I had to seek help from a psychiatrist and psychologist, undergo medication treatment and monitoring – coping on my own was no longer possible. Several months were spent on recovery, adaptation, and obtaining all the necessary documents. During this entire time, I lived on integration assistance for protected persons, the remaining savings, and occasional odd jobs.
In the autumn of 2025, I decided to return to Ukraine, because I want to continue my volunteer and human rights work where my experience will be most useful and in demand. Until recently, I managed to cope with difficulties, but I have now fallen into a financial hole due to the lack of stable work. At this moment, I need to cover basic needs for the initial period: housing, food, communication, and transportation – in order to quickly and effectively get back to work.
I have helped hundreds of people myself, but now I need help. I am counting on your support and solidarity, because I know these are not empty words.
Fundraising goal
€1500
€900 – accommodation (room / deposit / utilities for the initial period)
€400 – food and basic hygiene
€200 – communication and transportation