The last time any of Maria Kolesnikova’s family had contact with the imprisoned Belarusian opposition activist was more than 18 months ago. Fellow inmates reported hearing her plead for medical help from her tiny and dingy cell. Kolesnikova is one of several major opponents of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to disappear behind bars. Her father, Alexander Kolesnikov, says he knows she’s seriously ill but is rebuffed every time he tries to visit her. Kolesnikova gained prominence when protests erupted in Belarus after the widely disputed 2020 election that kept Lukashenko in power. With her close-cropped hair, broad smile and a gesture of forming her outstretched hands into a heart, she often was seen at the front of the demonstrations.
