Katya spent more than 5 years behind bars. She says that from the first day there was hope for release.
Katya says she had no choice whether to stay in Belarus. If she did, she would have stayed home — her family is there, her loved one is there, her husband Ihar Ilyash, who remains in the Babruisk colony, who was by her side and supported Katya for four years until he himself was detained.
Katya was asked if she would have changed anything if she had known how things would turn out. She replied that it was a difficult question because not only she but her entire family suffered, and health was lost: “If I could have made my family’s suffering less or spared them this suffering, perhaps I would have acted differently. As for my journalistic work, I would have remained true to my profession, because I am first and foremost a journalist.”
She has not yet watched Mary Tamkovich’s film “Under a Grey Sky” about her and Ihar’s story and thinks it’s better to wait for Ihar to watch it together and close this chapter of their life, as it is still too difficult an experience.
She and Ihar have been together for 10 years and married since December 2016. But they have spent more than half of this time apart.
Katya last saw Ihar before his imprisonment in July 2024, when he came for a short visit to her in the colony.
“We were supposed to have a long visit on September 11, 2024, but I was deprived of it. They knew how to make it more painful, I think. So we didn’t get to see each other. In October, Ihar was already taken away.
I constantly insisted that he leave. I pleaded with him simply as a wife. Not as a colleague, not because of civic duty — it was devoid of any political coloring. I simply asked him to save himself for me, for the future, for our future children, whom we dream of. I really wanted him to leave, to think about himself, about his own safety. But he said: ‘If you ask me about that one more time, I will be very offended.’ It outraged him. He insisted on staying in Belarus as a matter of principle. So as a colleague and as a citizen, I naturally feel respect and admiration for his courage. But as a wife, it just hurts me very much,” she says.
Ihar is currently in correctional colony No. 2 in Babruisk. He was transferred there after his sentence, when he received four years. In December 2025, he was transferred to the colony. He spent the first month of his stay in the colony in SHIZO (punishment cell).
“During my absence, during my time in prison, I once again confirmed that I made the right choice, that we are truly meant for each other. He is very stubborn. I asked him to take care of himself, but I knew he was like that: honest, sincere, reserved, and at the same time a professional in journalism. And in the family, he is a warm, open, homely person. A better husband for me is simply impossible to imagine. But he is also a friend. And we have all of this, I am sure we will carry it through our entire lives. But I made mistakes in my relationship with him. And I will simply do everything for him to forgive me, for him to be able to find something new, good in me. I want to be the best for him,” she says.
Katya was asked what impressed her during her few days of freedom.
“Firstly, I even forgot how to hold a phone and use a regular smartphone. Immediately upon arrival in Vilnius, thanks to volunteer help and friends, we were given phones and taught how to use them at a basic level. For me, it was such an unusual gesture when you start scrolling this feed,” she says.
“Listen, I feel such spatial disorientation, and even more so with a phone. I watched videos with artificial intelligence — it’s some kind of wonder. I feel like a dinosaur or an alien who fell from the Moon to Earth and is now just learning to walk again. Seriously, it’s like childhood,” she says.
Warsaw also looks unusual.
“It’s so unusual that there are no fences, no restrictions, no barbed wire. You can just walk freely. It’s so strange. The first few days I just held my friends’ hands to cross the street. I tell you honestly. Maybe I look a little helpless, but please forgive me. I will adapt over time,” she adds.
She says she was surrounded by such warmth, love, and care.
“It’s so pleasant and touching. I didn’t expect it to be like this. I am very grateful to everyone: colleagues, friends. I will adapt. The human psyche is very flexible and adaptive. I will adapt very quickly to new conditions. Those who remember me know that I am not faint-hearted. But for now, a little bit faint-hearted,” says Katya.