Vitebsk

On the edge of Vitebsk is the little town of Oktyabrskaya.

In the town of Vitebsk I sit in on one of his campaign events.

For years, “Over Vitebsk” occupied a central place in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, which spoke of Marc Chagall’s painting of his hometown in the Russian empire as an important part of its holdings.

He was sent to the Vitba-3 penal colony near the northeastern city of Vitebsk and had the distinctive yellow tag sewn onto his uniform marking him as a political prisoner “prone to extremism,” which he said singled them out for abuse.

"A potential new reason for attracting migrants from high-risk countries to Belarus could be the International Art Festival 'Slavonic Bazaar' in Vitebsk," Stanislaw Zaryn, deputy to Minister Coordinator of Special Services wrote on Twitter.