Sasha came to work for us to try himself out; he brought several topics with him, his ringing voice which distinguishes him. It was hard for him at first because his level was far lower than our standards. But I have to admit Sasha is a man able to work. He took the situation as a challenge: he made it with his sense of purpose, speed, promptness and willingness to work a lot.

For example, Champions League games in Barusau ended quite late and Sasha always volunteered to go there, he wrote right on site, just in time. So we could have a text ready by three in the morning. It was normal for him.

Sasha is kind hearted, always ready to help, that's what everybody says. Sometimes we asked him to add some trick questions to his interviews, but it's not his forte: he feels comfortable speaking about positive things. Harsh interviews are not about him.

He progressed in every aspect including texts. Besides, Sasha made contacts with football players, he always had insights, topics to work on. Eventually, he became irreplaceable for the editorial office very soon.

Mikita Melkaziorau, who used to work at Gosls.by and Tribuna, found Sasha for our project. Mikita and Sasha met at the Faculty of Journalism where both studied. They also both played for the faculty team.

Sasha was part of our team for more than seven years and he has grown a lot in this time: from the person who could hardly write without mistakes and word his thoughts to a great reporter and then, even despite his unusual voice, to a successful sports video blogger.

Able to work, mobile, appealing—that's, in a nutshell, what Sasha is as a journalist and a professional.

Noteworthy, the progress he made is the result of his work on himself. This man is incredibly hard-working and devoted to what he does. Even now when he's behind bars, Sasha thinks about work a lot, he says he misses working, he has certain ideas he wants to realise.

Sasha is… he is a friend, a fellow to me. He is appealing. It is great to talk to him, he is sensitive, a good listener.

We met quite a long time ago, we are from the same town, Orša. We played in KVN, but on different teams. Then we started communicating and it turned out we had the same goal, to study at the Faculty of Journalism. He was enrolled earlier, for he is older than me. Then the number of our common hobbies grew — sports, etc. That's how we became friends.

Sasha's bulletproof, confident and charismatic. That's a pretty cool mix. Even though he naturally doesn't have a good voice and classic visual appearance of a showman, he managed to make it his strength thanks to his perseverance and huge appeal.

What speaks loudly about how professional Sasha is is his self-improvement. It has always been obvious that he lives on what he does. It is more of a way of life for him than work. Whatever lacked at the beginning, he took it on the way.

We studied at the Faculty of Journalism, yet Aliaksandr is older than me. The first thing I remember about him is that our teachers have always referred to him as an example. He was Aliaksandr Gradziushka's favourite student so the latter began each class with the words, 'You know, there is Sasha Ivulin two years senior, he does so well, he studies and works.'

Everyone — not only teachers, but students as well — loved him. He is a positive, good man. One can always approach him to ask anything. He started working since year one and by the time he graduated he was already quite a known journalist. And many people asked him, 'How to get to work at Tribuna?' People asked for advice and Sasha never refused anyone.

We received our diplomas — I got bachelor degree and he master — the same day. We followed one another, my parents were with me. I said to them, 'This is Sasha Ivulin. He is one the best known sports journalists in Belarus.' We took a photo and it's almost the only photo of us together. Those are warm memories.

He is friendly, hard working, honest. I think his projects succeeded, first and foremost, because of his pathological honesty. He has always done what makes him 'high' and he's done it from the bottom of his heart. It is obvious and it appeals.

I was never interested in sports, but when ChestnOK appeared I watched a lot of episodes. I like the format, sharp attitude. I was surprised: there is something capable of drawing me to sports and making the topic interesting for me.

Sasha and I knew each other, but not very closely. Just knew each other and sometimes joked about something or discussed professional issues. At some point we scheduled to discuss some interviews but got both busy and rescheduled. And just the day before the new date, Sasha was detained. That's it.

I wrote to him for the first time in August 2021 because a rumor appeared he wasn't reading anything. I thought I could discuss books with him and send him some extracts to educate. So I wrote to him, 'Hi, Sasha. I am finally writing to you. How are you doing? I'll educate you.' I wrote about my favourite popular scientific books and received a response letter. In that letter, he responded in a friendly manner yet with a bit of anger and gave a list of books he had already read which occupied half of the whole letter. And he asked me to tell everyone not to tell girls — he has a lot of female pen mates — that he is not reading.

I write to many political prisoners, but Sasha is probably the only person whose letters do not resemble letters from the person imprisoned for a long time. He always adds smiles, jokes in almost every sentence. He asks about you a lot, about your feelings and emotions. These are very positive letters.

We discussed Oximiron's new album. I decided to send him lyrics from that album. And he responded, 'I'm sorry I can't recall any beat, but I'll try.' He jokes and holds on to such things. It is definitely the first person inside who supports people on the outside.

I know from our mutual acquaintances that Sasha is a very joyful person, he is always smiling. And I found proof of that in our letters. He is very honest, he's not afraid to tell anything personal.

I think it would be interesting for him to hear about a person he knows. He is actually interested in everything now, especially things happening in the cultural sphere. Those can be things helping him to stay in reality. It is important to him as a professional.