Colonel Yury Mikalevich Zakharanka (Belarusian: Юрый Мікалаевіч Захаранка; Russian: Юрий Захаренко, romanized: Yuri Zakharenko; 1 January 1952 – disappeared 7 May 1999) was a Belarusian military officer, politician, and pro-democracy activist who served as Minister of Internal Affairs from 1994 to 1995.
[2] At the moment when Belarus gained independence Zakharanka was deputy chief of the USSR MVD Inter-regional Directorate for Combating Organized Crime.
Zakharanka joined the opposition to the president and was elected member of the governing board of the United Civic Party of Belarus.
[3] Having strong support among top officers in the army and the State Security Committee (KGB)[citation needed], Zakharanka was a dangerous enemy for Lukashenko.
[6] In September 2004, the European Union and the United States issued travel bans for five Belarusian officials suspected of being involved in the kidnapping of Zakharanka: Interior Affairs Minister Vladimir Naumov, Prosecutor General Viktor Sheiman, Minister for Sports and Tourism Yuri Sivakov, and Colonel Dmitry Pavlichenko from the Belarus Interior Ministry.