Maria Kolesnikova was one of a trio of women who rallied crowds in nationwide protests after Mr Lukashenko claimed yet another landslide election win.
The reaction was like nothing Belarus had ever seen.
The protests against a rigged vote ended in mass arrests, beatings and torture – all thoroughly documented, but still flatly denied by officials.
Maria stood out, not only for her bleached-blonde crewcut and bright red lips, but for the constant smile they formed and her defiantly positive attitude.
It was that spirit that made her rip up her passport when the authorities tried to deport her – and that got her arrested.
The last Tatsiana heard from her sister was a postcard from prison dated 2 February 2023.
Maria wrote of longing for the old, free days when she would drink an abundance of coffee and discuss new projects with friends. But she drew a smiley face and a heart, assuring Tatsiana she was “fine”, her mood “more upbeat and impassioned”.
Since then, there’s been no word.
Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly claimed there’s “not one” political prisoner in Belarus, because there’s no such article in the criminal code.
But the respected human rights group Viasna currently lists almost 1,500 people imprisoned for their peaceful political actions or views.
One of its own activists, just released, was made to spend his last nine days in solitary confinement, sleeping on a damp concrete floor and using his fist for a pillow.
“Three political prisoners have died in prison, so it can be crucial for at least someone to see them,” Natalia Satsunkevich told me from Lithuania, where the Viasna activist now lives for safety.
She recalled the artist Ales Pushkin who died recently in custody with the official cause still unknown.
“He’d lost a lot of weight. So it would have been obvious,” Natalia suggested.
And the arrests haven’t stopped.