Time: evening

Place/Location: Pushkinskaya str., near hotel Orbita

Identity of the victim(s): Testimony #20, Folder #20

Identity of the perpetrator(s):

1) Group 'Alpha' under the KGB of the Republic of Belarus – in a green uniform with reflective arm stripes, black gears, green helmets with protective glasses, armed with weapons;
2) Police vans are scattered on the road blocking it;
3) Special Purpose Police Unit OMON - in total black, including helmets (with shields), gears, equipped with clubs and shields. Three types of shields: a. metal with wholes on the upper part; b. transparent plastic with vertical silver stripes; c. transparent plastic with a silver rectangular.

Forces employed: rubber bullets, light-bang grenades, gas grenades

The witness participated in a protest at Pushkinskaya street area. By the time he arrived at the protest, there had been a shooting at Kalvarijskaya street which forced civilians to seek shelter behind residential buildings. Special forces used rubber bullets. Those civilians who chose to come back started building barricades.

Special forces were coming from Kalvarijskaya street with about five buses of servicemen. They threw grenades at the peaceful protesters. Special forces seemed to target groups of people depending on their location. The fire was coming from a number of weapons. In light of the military tactics being deployed by special forces against unarmed civilians to intimidate and/or wound them, the latter threw stones at the direction of servicemen. At some point, people started suffocating. The witness emphasized that it was a response to the special forces' military actions. The witness realized that gas grenades had been used. He witnessed a woman being wounded from a stun grenade.

The witness testified that special forces were also off-street behind residential buildings, where they were abducting civilians. The witness experienced breathing difficulties in the days following the event as he had inhaled gas from the gas grenades.

The witness found a firing shell of a gas grenade at the scene. The shell has a production mark and a date of production (#01-15). It was made in Russia. UBGL of 23 mm is usually used to shoot this type of grenade. The grenade's weight is 350 grams. It can be thrown to a distance of 500 meters by allegedly UBGL. It is used to disorient protesters but has the ability to cause injuries and death. The witness testified the use of this type of exploitive weapon is restricted by local law to events such as rioting.

The witness also observed events happening on Zaslavskaya street on August 9, 2020, including a truck overrun a man (allegedly Traikovski). To the witness's knowledge, civilians also found shells from grenades made in the Check Republic.