Upstairs in an unmarked bar, hidden beneath the arches of a Warsaw bridge, Ihar and his brother Siarhei (whose names have been changed at their request for security reasons) sip their cocktails at the counter. The clinking of shakers wielded by Karma's bartenders and the rumble of passing trams overhead do little to disrupt the conversations of patrons within the plush alcoves of this VIP floor. "We left Belarus the day after the invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022," explains Ihar, the eldest member of the two. "The thought of our tax money feeding Putin's war machine was unbearable to us."

An IT employee, he eventually settled in Poland with his family in September 2022, after residing in several European countries. The thirty-something did not take part in Belarus' legislative elections held on February 25. The diaspora is now being asked to go to the capital, Minsk, to vote. Four parties aligned with the head of state claim a resounding victory in this democratic charade, which was boycotted by the exiled political opposition. This time, even international observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were banned.

Ihar and Siarhei have made Karma their second home, much like many exiled Belarusians residing in the Polish capital. From their nocturnal headquarters, they engage in discussions about the transformation of their country over the last four years. "We did everything we could to try and change things in Belarus in 2020, but after the war in Ukraine, we realized that our own safety was no longer guaranteed," testifies Ihar. "Because my brother and I had voted for the opposition and taken part in many demonstrations."

Belarus, situated adjacent to Poland, Russia, and Ukraine, has been under the iron-fisted rule of Alexander Lukashenko since 1994. It was from this country that the assault on Ukraine was launched on February 24, 2022. , in which Lukashenko "officially" claimed victory with 80% of the vote, sparked an unprecedented popular uprising that was brutally suppressed in the following weeks. A vassal of Vladimir Putin, the Belarusian president no longer tolerates any form of dissent within his country.

Independent media, NGOs, opposition politicians, and ordinary citizens who had taken to the streets to demand free elections were forced to leave the country. While an estimated 500,000 Belarusian nationals are reportedly abroad, the country's prisons are filling up like never before. The Belarusian human rights organization Viasna has documented over 1,400 political prisoners – including 39 journalists, according to Reporters Without Borders. A world record for a population of nine million. On February 20, Ihar Lednik became the fifth political prisoner to die in custody since 2021. "There will be more deaths in the cells," says Ihar. "Repression is reaching new heights."

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