Denis Sidorenko

Belarus’s Foreign Ministry reported that a memorial service had been held in Minsk for Belarusian diplomat Denis Sidorenko. Sidorenko served as the country’s ambassador to Germany for eight years — from 2016 to 2024 — before he was dismissed by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on March 11.

Neither the cause of Sidorenko’s death nor its exact date have been officially reported. “Today in Minsk, a farewell service was held for our dear colleague Denis Sidorenko. A talented and responsible diplomat, a true professional and a patriot, he earned the well-deserved respect of his colleagues and partners both in the Republic of Belarus and far beyond its borders,” read the statement. “This is a big loss for the diplomatic family of Belarus.”

Belarusian news outlets, including major independent ones like Zerkalo and Nasha Niva, noted that the authorities did not acknowledge Sidorenko’s death until reports about it appeared in the media. About an hour and a half before the Foreign Ministry’s statement, the outlet Pozirk reported that the diplomat had died of a heart attack on June 24 at the age of 48.

Nasha Niva, meanwhile, reported that Sidorenko’s death had occurred a day earlier, on June 23 — and that it had been a suicide. “He jumped from a Minsk apartment high-rise,” the newspaper wrote. According to the outlet’s sources, Sidorenko had not received a new post after returning from Germany and had come under the intense scrutiny of the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB).