Probably in retaliation for World of Tanks developer Wargaming leaving the country after Belarus supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Nikolai Katselapov, head of business development at World of Tanks studio Wargaming, appears to have been added to the list of “organisations and individuals involved in terrorist activities” by the Belarusian Committee for State Security (or KGB – yes, they’ve kept their Soviet-era name). Probably because Wargaming withdrew from Belarus following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is charged under Article 290-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus – “Financing of terrorist activities”.

Katselapov was, in fact, added to the list on 30 December, but it was only when the independent Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva reported the story that it became widely publicised.

Nasha Niva understands that Katselapov is still at large. This would make sense, as Wargaming has been out of Belarus for almost a year. (In any case, he should be careful not to fly over the country…)

Belarus has long used the terrorist list as a political club. In the past, dissidents such as opposition leader and former presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya have been added to the list as a pretext. All the while, of course, they deny the repression of groups and individuals hostile to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka..

It is likely that Wargaming’s decision last April to leave the country offended the upper echelons of the Belarusian Government. Especially as Wargaming was the most prominent game development studio in the country. It was valued at more than a billion dollars in 2016.

Source: Nasha Niva, Game World Observer