On 21 December 2022, special proceedings (a trial in absentia) began against Astapenka at a court in Minsk, with charges under Chapter 1, Article 14 and Chapter 3, Article 210 of the Criminal Code of Belarus. In early 2023, he was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison (the sentence was immediately reduced by one year under an amnesty due to the National Unity Day) and a fine of 18,500 Belarusian rubles.
