Last week, hackers known as the Belarusian Cyber Partisans gained access to President Alexander Lukashenko’s passport information as well as several others within Belarusian passport databases and began selling this as non-fungible token (NFT).
Belarusian Cyber Partisans contend that banning cryptocurrency is one way of combatting “bloody governments in Minsk and Moscow.”
Hackers claim they have breached a Belarusian government database and created the “Belarusian Passports” NFT collection, featuring digital passports purporting to bear Lukashenko’s true details. Now, hackers are selling this passport as an NFT.
Some commentators have claimed that the information in the digital passport is false due to an apparent spelling mistake on page one, where “Republic” is misspelled as “Aleksandr.”
On August 30, Lukashenko’s birthday, hackers tweeted that OpenSea had abruptly suspended a Lukashenko NFT auction and were now exploring alternative strategies.
An OpenSea spokeswoman stated that this initiative violated business regulations regarding “doxxing or disclosing personal identifying information without proper permission from another individual.”
Belarusian Cyber Warriors intend to sell NFTs containing President Lukashenko’s passport information as well as those of other government officials.
“We offer passports of those close to the government who are seen as enemies or traitors to Belarus and Ukraine’s people, in exchange for supporting our work against bloody regimes in #Minsk & Moscow,” according to this group.
Belarus has been Lukashenko’s kingdom since it came into being in 1994, and he remains there ever since. Although elected on a platform of fighting corruption, Lukashenko has been accused by organizations such as Organize Crime and Corruption Reporting Project of “rigging elections, torturing dissidents, detaining protesters unlawfully and assaulting protesters.”
Lukashenko’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also caused contention within their group, who see him as an autocratic dictator who practices corruption.
In February, Belarusian Cyber Partisans initiated the “Resistance Movement of Belarus,” with a primary donation method being Bitcoin (BTC).
“We, the free citizens of Belarus, refuse to submit to this state and form self-defence as an effective response against its unleashed terror,” according to one group’s message. Their ultimate goal is the end of dictatorial regime.
