[3] Born in Minsk, then largest city in the Byelorussian SSR and now the capital of the Republic of Belarus, Igor moved with his family to Grodno in 1986.

During his stay in Poland he actively took part in efforts to promote the democratisation of Belarus, cooperating with Belarusian political migrants and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.

[12][non-primary source needed] Depending on the song, Igor writes his lyrics and records his vocals in Russian, Polish, English, or Belarusian.

[16][17][18] Due to his critical stance of opposition towards the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko, which involves political and social activism on his part, Bancer has been imprisoned and punished by the Belarusian law enforcement numerous times.

[2] In the following years of 2008, 2009, and 2010, Igor was stopped several times by the militsiya of Belarus – often arrested and sometimes charged with criminal offences, mostly for his reluctance to accept state authority and insistence on protest; at one point in 2010 he went on a hunger strike.

Under arrest, as a sign of protest, he refused all food and liquids, which resulted in rapid weight loss of 8 kilograms; he was also for a period of time held in an overcrowded cell.

[25] Since 2015, after receiving intimidating phone-calls from the militsiya with threats of forced expulsion from the country, Bancer has been focusing more on pursuing his musical calling while making ends meet.

[26] When the 2020 Belarusian protests escalated following the publication of falsified election results on the evening of 9 August 2020, police forces reportedly actively looked for Igor and detained him once he was found.

[32] Ultimately, he was sentenced to 1.5 years of penal labour in a restricted freedom colony in Vitebsk at the other end of Belarus, which began on 17 June 2021 in Open correctional facility No.

His whereabouts were unknown for a week after the arrest until his friend, fellow musician Fyodor Zhyvalievski, revealed that he had visited Igor Bancer in Minsk, where he was being held.

[38] In October of 2022, after years of repression from the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, Igor Bancer moved to Poland and his band Mister X regrouped there with a new lineup not long after; they were active in Warsaw, which became a refuge for many Belarusian dissidents and activists who had to flee their homes amidst the protests.

[39] On 26th July 2024, Bancer entered the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy with a bag that contained pepper spray, a knife, a telescopic baton, and possibly an electroshock weapon.

Although he behaved in a calm manner, made no threats, and left his bag at security, the staff eventually called the police – leading to the evacuation of 150 people from the building and Igor Bancer's detention.

[39] Igor is a committed anti-fascist[3] with a zero tolerance attitude towards racism in the skinhead scene, recognising the multi-cultural and ethnically diverse roots of his musical genre; likewise, he is an outspoken opponent of homophobia and sexism in punk rock and wider society.

[45] He does not eat meat and does not drink alcohol, his personal interests besides punk and rock music include: MMA, Muay Thai, and Rugby.