Dinner to foVadim Prokopiev, 52, is a Belarusian opposition politician, businessman, and publicist, known for his anti-Soviet stance since 1989. Born and raised in Minsk, he left the Soviet army in 1991 and graduated in finance from the Institute of Modern Knowledge in 1994. Prokopiev has been in private business since 1994, notably in the hospitality industry from 2003, establishing himself as a prominent restaurateur in Minsk and winning accolades such as Businessman of the Year in 2004 and 2018. He fled Belarus in July 2020 to avoid arrest and continued his opposition from exile. In 2022, he proposed a military operation to liberate Belarus but shifted focus due to changes in Ukraine's strategy. Sentenced in absentia to 50 years, he moved to Washington, D.C. in 2023 to influence Belarusian democratic strategies as an informal ambassador. He now leads a major faction in the Coordination Council's parliament in exile, preparing for an election campaign.llow