Mikita Melkazioraŭ: Difference between revisions

 

Line 33: Line 33:

The name of the channel is an ironic reference to the Russian expression [[wikt:ru::не жизнь, а малина|не жизнь, а малина]], literally “not life but strawberry”, meaning a carefree life}}<ref name=”sojka” /> The channel became a platform for political commentary and featured interviews with guests such as [[Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya]], [[Sergei Tikhanovsky]], and members of the [[Coordination Council (Belarus)|Coordination Council]], and other prominent Belarusians from sport, business, and culture.<ref name=”nashaniva_death” /><ref name=”DW” /><ref name=”24smi” /> The first interview on the channel to reach one million views was recorded in July 2022 with [[Ihar «Janki» Jankov]], a soldier from the [[Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Выпуск программы «Жизнь-малина» Никиты Мелкозерова впервые набрал миллион просмотров |trans-title=Vypusk prahramy «Žyćcio-malina» Mikity Miełkaziorava ŭpieršyniu nabraŭ miljon prahladaŭ |url=https://nashaniva.com/ru/322075 |work=[[Nasha Niva]] |date=21 July 2023 |language=ru |access-date=24 December 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite av media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi_T40IBBdY |title=ЯНКИ – готов убить Лукашенко и сесть, ужасы войны и граната, чтобы не сдаться в плен |trans-title=YANKI – ready to kill Lukashenko and go to jail, horrors of war and a grenade so as not to surrender |people=Igor Yankov |date=26 May 2022 |publisher=Žyćcio-malina |medium=Video |language=ru |access-date=24 December 2025}}</ref>

The name of the channel is an ironic reference to the Russian expression [[wikt:ru::не жизнь, а малина|не жизнь, а малина]], literally “not life but strawberry”, meaning a carefree life}}<ref name=”sojka” /> The channel became a platform for political commentary and featured interviews with guests such as [[Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya]], [[Sergei Tikhanovsky]], and members of the [[Coordination Council (Belarus)|Coordination Council]], and other prominent Belarusians from sport, business, and culture.<ref name=”nashaniva_death” /><ref name=”DW” /><ref name=”24smi” /> The first interview on the channel to reach one million views was recorded in July 2022 with [[Ihar «Janki» Jankov]], a soldier from the [[Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Выпуск программы «Жизнь-малина» Никиты Мелкозерова впервые набрал миллион просмотров |trans-title=Vypusk prahramy «Žyćcio-malina» Mikity Miełkaziorava ŭpieršyniu nabraŭ miljon prahladaŭ |url=https://nashaniva.com/ru/322075 |work=[[Nasha Niva]] |date=21 July 2023 |language=ru |access-date=24 December 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite av media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi_T40IBBdY |title=ЯНКИ – готов убить Лукашенко и сесть, ужасы войны и граната, чтобы не сдаться в плен |trans-title=YANKI – ready to kill Lukashenko and go to jail, horrors of war and a grenade so as not to surrender |people=Igor Yankov |date=26 May 2022 |publisher=Žyćcio-malina |medium=Video |language=ru |access-date=24 December 2025}}</ref>

The 2022 Vibrant Information Barometer (VIBE) report by [[IREX]] noted that “among nonprofessional content producers, the most engaged with civil society is Mikita Melkaziorau with his YouTube show, Zhizn-Malina.”<ref>{{cite report |title=Vibrant Information Barometer 2022: Belarus |publisher=[[IREX]] |year=2022 |url=https://www.irex.org/sites/default/files/VIBE_2022_Belarus%20(1).pdf |page=22 |access-date=2025-12-22}}</ref>

The 2022 Vibrant Information Barometer (VIBE) report by [[IREX]] noted that “among nonprofessional content producers, the most engaged with civil society is Mikita Melkaziorau with his YouTube show, Zhizn-Malina.”<ref>{{cite report |title=Vibrant Information Barometer 2022: Belarus |publisher=[[IREX]] |year=2022 |url=https://www.irex.org/sites/default/files/VIBE_2022_Belarus%20(1).pdf |page=22 |access-date=2025-12-22}}</ref>

The ”Belarusian Yearbook 2022” similarly described the channel as “acclaimed,” noting that Melkazioraŭ’s work helped establish the conversational genre as a “fact of Belarusian culture,” bringing cultural analysis into the popular media domain.<ref>{{cite book |title=Belarusian Yearbook 2022 |publisher=Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies |date=November 2022 |url=https://belinstitute.com/sites/default/files/2022-11/yearbook2022en.pdf |page=203 |access-date=2025-12-24}}</ref>

The ”Belarusian Yearbook 2022” similarly described the channel as “acclaimed,” noting that Melkazioraŭ’s work helped establish the conversational genre as a “fact of Belarusian culture,” bringing cultural analysis into the popular media domain.<ref>{{cite book |title=Belarusian Yearbook 2022 |publisher=Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies |date=November 2022 |url=https://belinstitute.com/sites/default/files/2022-11/yearbook2022en.pdf |page=203 |access-date=2025-12-24}}</ref>

Belarusian journalist and YouTuber (1988–2025)

Mikita Melkazioraŭ (Belarusian: Мікіта Мелказёраў; Russian: Никита Мелкозёров, romanized: Nikita Melkozyorov; 14 August 1988 – 21 December 2025) was a Belarusian journalist, video blogger, and interviewer. He was the creator and host of the YouTube channel Žyćcio-malina (Жыццё-маліна) (Life is Raspberry/Sweet Life), which featured interviews with Belarusian opposition figures, cultural leaders, and athletes. A critic of the Alexander Lukashenko regime, Melkazioraŭ lived in exile in Poland from 2021 until his death in 2025.^[1][2]

Melkazioraŭ was born on 14 August 1988 in Khabarovsk, Russian SFSR.^[3] At the age of five, he moved to Minsk, Belarus, where his mother and grandparents raised him.^[4][3] He graduated from the Institute of Journalism at the Belarusian State University in 2012.^[1][3]

Melkazioraŭ began his career in sports journalism at the newspaper All About Football(Всё о футболе). He later wrote for the sports portal Goals.by (rebranded as Tribuna.com).^[2] He worked for Onliner.by, an independent Belarusian media portal.^[3][5]

After the 2020 Belarusian presidential election and crackdown on independent media, Melkazioraŭ launched the YouTube project Žyćcio-malina (Жыццё-маліна).^[a][2] The channel became a platform for political commentary and featured interviews with guests such as Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Sergei Tikhanovsky, and members of the Coordination Council, and other prominent Belarusians from sport, business, and culture.^[1][6][3] The first interview on the channel to reach one million views was recorded in July 2022 with Ihar «Janki» Jankov, a soldier from the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment.^[7][8]

The 2022 Vibrant Information Barometer (VIBE) report by IREX noted that “among nonprofessional content producers, the most engaged with civil society is Mikita Melkaziorau with his YouTube show, Zhizn-Malina.”^[9]

The Belarusian Yearbook 2022 similarly described the channel as “acclaimed,” noting that Melkazioraŭ’s work helped establish the conversational genre as a “fact of Belarusian culture,” bringing cultural analysis into the popular media domain.^[10]

While in exile, Melkazioraŭ co-hosted the historical podcast Zahlianie sonca (“The Sun Will Shine”) and the podcast Neshta budze (“Something Will Happen”) with sports journalist Aliaksandr Ivulin. In April 2025, he began collaborating with Belsat TV as a co-host of the program Mova Nanova (“Language Anew”).^[4]

Melkazioraŭ supported the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests. In June 2021, following the detention of his colleague Aliaksandr Ivulin, Melkazioraŭ left Belarus for Warsaw to avoid arrest.^[11][12] In his interview to Russian journalist Yury Dud, he stated that remaining in Belarus would have inevitably led to imprisonment, describing the environment for independent journalists in Minsk as dangerous.^[13]

Belarusian authorities declared his social media channels “extremist materials”, criminalizing subscriptions for citizens inside Belarus.^[6][14] Melkazioraŭ advocated for the use of the Belarusian language as a counter to Russification.^[5]

He was a frequent target of state media and officials. Kiryl Kazakou, the editor-in-chief of the state-run newspaper Minskiy Kurier, publicly called for Melkazioraŭ to be shot without trial, referring to him as “the animal.” Additionally, security forces announced via Telegram that searches of Melkazioraŭ’s home and interrogations of his relatives would be conducted with “special treatment.”^[15]

In January 2025, Melkazioraŭ married Lina Tsapava via an online marriage service based in Utah. This method allowed them to marry despite being unable to return to Belarus for the procedure.^[1][3]

Melkazioraŭ died on the night of 21 December 2025, at the age of 37. Reports cited heart failure as the cause of death.^[4][6][16]

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya expressed condolences over Melkazioraŭ’s death.^[17] Political analyst Alexander Friedman of Novaya Gazeta noted that for the last few years, no death had caused such a massive reaction in Belarusian society.^[18] Yury Dud also paid tribute, describing the channel Žyćcio-malina as “a chronicle of modern Belarus” and praising Melkazioraŭ’s contribution to journalism.^[19]