The infamous group, who described Lukashenko and his close allies as “traitors,” said the money they will generate from selling the NFTs would go towards their fight against the regimes in Russia and Belarus. Cyber-Partisans have voiced opposition to Lukashenko and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for his war on Ukraine. In February, the Belarusian hacktivist group made headlines after infecting the country’s railroad systems with ransomware to slow the transfer of Russian troops and weapons to Ukraine.
‘Unique’ NFT Passports
Cyber-Partisans posted their NFT images of Lukashenko’s passport on Twitter. One of them depicted the Belarusian leader behind bars. “Now we’re offering you an opportunity to become a part of this history,” the group wrote. This appears to be the first time hackers have obtained the passport information of all the citizens in a country. It is unclear how Cyber-Partisans got their hands on this information. The Belarusian government has not announced that their systems have been breached. Incidentally, Cyber-Partisans chose August 30th — Lukashenko’s birthday — to launch their audacious NFT project. “The dictator has a birthday today – help us ruin it for him!” they wrote. Cyber-Partisan also shared passport images of the former head of Belarus’ Central Election Commission Lidzia Yarmoshyna, the deputy head of Belarus’ KGB operations Ivan Tertel, and Lukashenko’s press secretary Natallia Eismant. Cyber-Partisans have been operating since September 2020 and is believed to be a wing of the Belarusian opposition movement Suprativ. The group is well known for its cyberattacks on the Belarusian government, which it says is authoritarian. The complex geopolitical issues between Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine have resulted in other interesting works of art in the past. Ukrainian media house NV auctioned an NFT of Lukashenko dressed as Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 2021. The proceeds from the NFT were sent to the Belarusian opposition.
OpenSea Delists Cyber-Partisans’ Collection
Just hours after Cyber-Partisans put up their collection of NFT passports for sale online, it was delisted by OpenSea. OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, hasn’t released a statement about its decision to delist the collection. The hacktivist group said they are looking for alternatives. Two alternative channels seem to be Algogems and Rand Gallery. However, it is unclear if any NFT marketplace would allow Cyber-Partisans to sell the controversial collection on their platform to avoid attracting the ire of Russia and the Belarusian government. To learn more about NFTs and the latest threats to your collection, check out our article on NFT scams.
