12 August 2020, 19:05 | TUT.BY
Source: Mikhail’s Facebook page SPACE EventSpace.BY
Mikhail Chuprynski, co-owner of Rozum Robotics and an active member of Hackerspace (a Minsk workshop and skill exchange group which printed face shields for medical professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic), is detained. As told by Viktar Khamianok, the founder and CEO of Rozum Robotics on his Facebook page.
“On the night of August 9, Mikhail Chuprynski, the co-owner and chief operations officer of Rozum Robotics, was arrested,” writes Viktor Khamenok. “His arrest was captured by CCTV cameras at 00:45 at the entrance of his 39 Masherova Street home. At the present moment, the location of Mikhail is not known. Jails of Akrescina, Zhodzina and the district police department of Minsk denied that Mikhail was there. Should anyone possess any information about his whereabouts, please let us know.”
Mikhail is one of the leaders of the Minsk hackerspace community. During the COVID-19 epidemic, he and his team launched the production of personal protective equipment. Minsk hackerspace has produced and handed over to hospitals 40 thousand protective shields, 1.2 thousand masks for infected areas (“snorkels”) and over 6.5 thousand protective overalls. Help was received by 456 hospitals and clinics in 142 districts.
Rozum Robotics is a Belarusian manufacturer of innovative robotics products.
The Minsk hackerspace is part of a world-wide network of community spaces where people interested in technology meet and work together on their projects, such as robots and drones. Earlier this year we wrote about their effort in organising PPE printing for medical workers.
Update: On 14 August, Mikhail posted on his Facebook that he had been released.
More on the topic: “A bone was sticking out of his arm.” Mikhail Chuprynski on his experience in Akrescina and Zhodzina prisons.
