Melnikova Spends a Week in Sri Lanka, Then Travels to Dubai with Her Kids
Remarkable Discovery: "The Vanishing Act" of Angelika Melnikova Unraveled
Got a juicy investigation on your hands? So did the Polish publication, Polityka, with their intriguing piece, "The Disappearance of Angelika". Three tenacious journalists, Polish guy Pawel Reśko, Russian pair Timur Olevsky and Yevgeniya Tamarchenko, dug up some tantalizing details linking Angelika Melnikova's vanishing act to funds in the account of the Bialorus liberty foundation. If that wasn't enough, they had the gall to spill the beans on Angelika's supposed flight from London to Sri Lanka, accompanied by a perceived Belarusian lover who could’ve been a KGB agent!
But that was just the beginning. Polityka dropped another bomb on May 10 with the second part of their investigation. They unveiled that Angelika had been jetting off to Sri Lanka with her daughters Anna and Tatiana. The fancy Araliya hotel bookings in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka, on February 25, a day before her London flight, hinted at a last-minute getaway or a sneaky plan to keep her plans under wraps.
Interestingly, Angelika didn't go the usual route of booking through popular online travel agencies. Instead, she opted for a 17-year-old Sri Lankan tour agency catering to Russian-speaking clients. The Araliya Beach Resort & Spa, a five-star hotel with a huge Russian clientele, was no stranger to Angelika, who had graced its pristine shores the previous January.
A joint effort by Polityka and The Insider, with a little helping hand from Sunday Times in Sri Lanka, uncovered that Angelika and her girls crossed the Sri Lankan border on February 28. During their Unawatuna sojourn, a significant transfer was made from the foundation that Angelika managed.
Fast-forward seven days, and the trio took off for Dubai on Fly Dubai, with Angelika using her brand-new Polish passport. And guess what? This wasn't Angelika's first rodeo in Dubai; she had made two trips there in the past year.
When journalists were digging around for information about Angelika's disappearance, it looked like the whole gig was on a standstill. Her workplace was left untouched, no one questioned her colleagues, her friends were not traced, and her usual hangouts remained unexplored.
But wait, things took a turn for the interesting! After the initial article dropped in Polityka, it was revealed that the first interrogations had finally started, over two and a half months after Angelika's disappearance and a month and a half after her reported disappearance.
In a surprising twist, it was discovered that Melnikova, the speaker of the Coordination Council, had gone missing on the evening of March 28, with no contact since March 25, referring to online communication only. In reality, Melnikova had not been sighted for quite some time. The bombshell revelation that Melnikova had left the European Union on February 26, and her ex-husband had left Poland for Belarus on March 3, rocked the boat a little.
Journalists from "Mirror" managed to score an interview with Melnikova's ex-husband, who confirmed his presence in Belarus and stated that the kids were in his custody. Meanwhile, Melnikova's parents confirmed to a "Euroradio" journalist that the kids were indeed in Belarus, but they were clueless about Angelika's whereabouts and expressed their worries.
On April 8, Stanislav Glinnik, the acting speaker of the Coordination Council, announced that some files had been downloaded from Melnikova's account, including a strategic plan, budget, internal reports, and other operational materials dating back to July 2024.
On April 14, it was reported that money had been withdrawn from the account of the Białoruś Liberty fund founded by Melnikova. It's still unsure if she pulled the trigger herself or someone else stepped in.
Lastly, on April 14, the investigation into Melnikova's disappearance was escalated to a higher level; instead of the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor's Office, the National Prosecutor's Office would handle the case. It seems serious business, folks, with the investigation now in the capable hands of prosecutors who deal with matters of national importance, including espionage cases.
Stay tuned for the latest updates on the theatrical quest to find Angelika Melnikova!
*(Enrichment Data: Regarding Angelika Melnikova, a Belarusian opposition leader, there's limited detailed information about a specific investigation timeline, bank transfers, or her current status. However, here's what we do know:
- Missing for Over Two Months & Poland Connection: Melnikova's disappearance was noted after a trip to Cuba, and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko commented on the situation in relation to Poland.)*
- The journalists from Polish publication Polityka and The Insider, along with the Sunday Times in Sri Lanka, confirmed that Angelika Melnikova, the missing Belarusian opposition leader, had traveled to Sri Lanka with her two daughters in February 2024.
- The trio also unveiled that Angelika had made a significant transfer from the foundation she managed during their stay in Sri Lanka.
- After Angelika's disappearance, it took two and a half months for the first interrogations to commence, according to a surprising twist revealed after the initial article dropped in Polityka.
- Angelika Melnikova's ex-husband, who is in Belarus, confirmed to a "Mirror" journalist that he had custody of their children, while her parents expressed worry about her whereabouts to a "Euroradio" journalist, indicating that the children were indeed in Belarus.
