 From 1994 to 1997, he was the personal cameraman of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.In 1997, Zavadsky and ORT reporter Pavel Sheremet were arrested and imprisoned after filming a report about security vulnerability on the Belarus–Lithuania border.Zavadsky filmed the report with Sheremet (along with his drivers) crossing illegally from Belarus to Lithuania and back again, to demonstrate the ease with which smugglers could cross the border.