Lukashenko frees Belarusian opposition leader Tsikhanouski during Kellogg visit

His wife, Belarusian opposition representative abroad Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, reported this. On her official Telegram channel, she posted a touching video of their reunion in Vilnius (Belarus).

“Free at last!” Tsikhanouskaya captioned the video.

The video shows a visibly thinner Syarhei Tsikhanouski emerging from a van to meet his wife amid applause from those present, as Sviatlana embraces him.

The entire clip lasts only 10 seconds.

Belarusian emigrants commenting suggest that the order of the political prisoners’ release was clearly prearranged.

Here is the first photo of Syarhei Tsikhanouski free. It was published by the Belarusian service of Radio Free Europe.

Syarhei Tsikhanouski's life before prison

46-year-old Syarhei Tsikhanouski previously ran an advertising business in Belarus, owned a nightclub, and had his own studio for producing professional photo and video content. After encountering the arbitrariness of Lukashenko’s bureaucratic system, he launched a YouTube project called A Country for Life, filming episodes across the Republic of Belarus. People eagerly spoke out in his videos about the problems in their towns and villages, as the country’s information space had been completely wiped clean and support from traditional media was impossible.

Over time, Syarhei Tsikhanouski became a recognizable figure and announced his presidential ambitions. However, before the 2020 election, Lukashenko did not allow the pro-Western opposition figure to register as a candidate. Instead, he allowed the registration of Syarhei’s wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, after Syarhei had already been detained following a street provocation staged by the police.

According to the Belarusian opposition and the international community, it was Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya who actually won the 2020 election, as people voted for her both because of her name and out of fatigue with the lifelong rule of pro-Russian Alexander Lukashenko, which has continued uninterrupted since 1994. However, Belarus’s Central Election Commission officially handed the “victory” to Lukashenko, and Sviatlana was forced to flee to Vilnius.

At the end of 2021, a court controlled by the dictator sentenced Syarhei Tsikhanouski to 18 years in prison for “organizing mass riots,” “inciting social hatred,” and “obstructing the work of the Central Election Commission.”

The 2020 election results in favor of Lukashenko were recognized only by China, Russia, and its satellite states. Since then, Alexander Lukashenko has been referred to globally as the so-called or self-proclaimed president.