Yana Maksimava: I Positively Evaluate All the Actions That Hit the Regime

• 7.08.2021, 16:30

A candid interview with Belarusian athletes.

Athletes Yana Maksimava and Andrei Krauchanka told in an interview with DW why they decided not to return to Belarus and stay in Germany.

- Why did you decide to leave Belarus?

Yana Maksimava: After our friend was detained and sentenced for 15 days, we started to panic, we began to look out the windows, we were afraid that they might come for us, come up with some incomprehensible story, and also convict us. We were very worried about our daughter. Andrei received a message that some people can help us. We could not refuse it, and we flew here on July 22.

Andrei Krauchanka: Psychologically, it has become difficult. We are tired of walking and looking around. You get into the car - you take precautions, you go out of the entrance - you take precautions... In any case, we are not going to be silent, and, in Belarus, everyone who speaks the truth is repressed and imprisoned.

- Yana, why did you write a post on Instagram and talk about your decision not to come back?

Yana Maksimava: I could not come to terms with the thought that perhaps we would stay here, and I had some kind of hope that we would return. But I saw the reaction of our leaders after what happened to Krystsina Tsimanouskaya and realized that there would be absolutely no one to protect me in this country (Belarus - ed.), that our leadership would not take my side. There will be absolutely no one who can help me. And I wrote this post, I've decided for sure that it's very dangerous for me to go back to the country.

- How do you assess the act of Krystsina Tsimanouskaya?

Yana Maksimava: I appreciate all the actions that hit the regime very well. In general, Krystsina is very brave. She was very honest with her subscribers on the Internet. I can’t judge her, I don’t know what I would do. Perhaps the team could take offense at her, after all, at the time of the competition, it was unpleasant for someone. But I support Krystsina and want her to do well.

Andrei Krauchanka: Krystsina is very emotional, I think that she was deeply hurt by the fact that they wanted to put her at this distance of 400 meters. This is a completely different distance, and athletes are well aware of this. I think she had no idea what it might lead to. It was all about emotions. Either way, she was right in this situation.

- And do you communicate with her now?

Yana Maksimava: Yes, we communicate. There are people who support her. Now, just like me, she is not afraid of anything, and this is a very cool feeling: to know that there is no AMAP here who will come and take you. If we were in Belarus, they could come and detain us.

- What, in your opinion, did the story with Tsimanouskaya show?

Andrei Krauchanka: She once again showed the true situation with the Lukashenka regime, showed how they behave with people. This situation could have been hushed up instead of creating an international scandal out of the blue. They could have waited until Krystsina calms down and then talk to her. And they immediately began to "destroy" her with their methods, humiliate, insult, psychologically crush her. We have seen how this system works. They wanted to deport a person from the Olympic Games!

- What is the significance of sports and this Olympics for Aliaksandr Lukashenka and his regime?

Andrei Krauchanka: At the expense of the Olympics, at the expense of sports, he wants to strengthen his legitimacy. If the World Ice Hockey Championship was held in Minsk, those who came there would have to shake Lukashenka's hand. This is how he would increase his legitimacy - through sports, through athletes; the red-green flag is constantly raised at the Olympics. But we see that it is not very good at it. Because this regime is burying itself.

- Andrei, you were the first athlete to sign an open letter to the authorities. After that, you were expelled from the national team. Why did you do it then?

Andrei Krauchanka: My coach always taught me that the fight must be fair. And when I saw how the authorities were behaving, when potential presidential candidates began to be imprisoned, the authorities created some kind of provocations, when the someone jumped out of windows with ballots so that people would not see, I was very much outraged, and I said: I am not I want to live in a country where the government lies.

- Did you have any pressure after that?

Andrei Krauchanka: After the elections, when our activity began, the deputy minister came to my house. He took two huge judokas with him, probably to scare me into stopping my activities. He told me in plain text: "Think about yourself, about your wife, about your child! What are you getting yourself into? Stop."

- How do you feel about those athletes who play for the Belarusian national team and do not speak out about politics?

Andrei Krauchanka: I know many people who are against the regime, but they are afraid. People were so intimidated. There are really the levers of pressure on them. You need to be very brave to give up everything. There are very few people like that left. I do not blame them, it is their choice. Anyway, I say what I see, they say what they see. And everyone will be responsible for their words. I’m going to return home when the change comes, but it’s not safe to be there right now.

- What are you going to do in Germany?

Andrei Krauchanka: We were granted national visas, so we have the right to find a job even here. I want Yana to continue her career so that she can train, keep fit, and compete somewhere. I will probably take courses to get my coach license. But now the most important thing is to learn the language.

- Yana, what prospects do you see for yourself in Germany?

Yana Maksimava: I would really like to continue training. I would like to win a medal - in the heptathlon, in the pentathlon, it doesn't matter. If it doesn't work out, then my life will go on, I will study the language, get a job. But I will not stop training. I still have a lot of strength, and, as long as I have the belief that I can still do something, I will continue training - no matter where: in the forest, in the arena, or in the park.

- If after moving to Germany your sports career ends, will you consider that it was worth it anyway?

Andrei Krauchanka: Of course. Here I can do more for the new Belarus than there. It was very dangerous to be there. If I continued to tell the truth, then they would come for us after the Olympics.

- Yana, how will you react if leaving Belarus will cost you your sports career?

Yana Maksimava: Probably, I will react calmly. Everything that is happening now is terrible. My career is not in the first place now, as it used to be. Now the main thing for me is my daughter's safety and what's going on in my country.