Mikalai Karpiankou

Mikalai Mikalayevič Karpiankou (, , Nikolay Nikolayevich Karpenkov, born on 6 September 1968 in Minsk) is a state security official of the government of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus. He is a Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus and the incumbent Commander of Internal Troops of Belarus.

Biography Born in Minsk, Karpiankou graduated from the Minsk Suvorov Military School in 1985 and a Tank Military School in Ulyanovsk, Russia, in 1989.

After several years of military service, Karpiankou enrolled to work for the Interior Ministry of the newly independent Belarus. From 2010 till 2014 Karpiankou held various positions in the Interior Ministry. In 2014 he headed GUBOPiK, another unit of the Interior Ministry. On 19 November 2020 Karpiankou was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Commander of Internal Troops of Belarus.

Role during the 2020–2021 protests

Karpiankou was noticed among state security officials who personally participated in the crackdown of mass protests that followed a controversial presidential election. On 6 September 2020, Karpiankou smashed the glass door of a café in Minsk while pursuing protesters fleeing from him. It was arguably the only glass window broken during protests with hundreds of thousands of protesters participating. He was also identified among security officials who kidnapped and tortured another protester in Minsk.

In November 2020, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya initiated the recognition of GUBOPiK, the unit led by Karpiankou, as a terrorist organization for its participation in police brutality.

On 15 January 2021, Belarusian independent media published an audio recording of Karpiankou allegedly speaking to interior troops and making shocking comments on the ongoing protests.

On 2 February 2021, TUT.BY got the results of the phonoscopic analysis of the record made public by BYPOL.

In April 2021, Karpiankou voiced public threats to exiled members of the opposition in an interview on Belarus state television.

International sanctions On 20 November 2020, Karpiankou was included in sanctions lists of Latvia and Estonia.

On 21 June 2021, the U.S. Treasury has added Karpiankou to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List with the following motivation: Mikalai Karpiankou (Karpiankou) is Belarus’ Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and the current Commander of the Internal Troops. In his previous role as head of GUBOPiK, Karpiankou personally led members of GUBOPiK in pursuing and beating peaceful protesters in Minsk, the capital city of Belarus. In January 2021, a leaked audio recording allegedly captured Karpiankou discussing plans to build an internment camp for detained protesters and advising security services to shoot protesters in the face and genitals.

He was also sanctioned by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Canada.

In January 2025, Canada imposed sanctions against Igor Karpenkov and Irina Karpenkova, the son and wife of Nikolai Karpenkov, respectively.