Syarhey Tsikhanouski's press conference. Screenshot of the YouTube video from TV Rain YouTube channel. Fair use.
On June 21, 2025, Syarhey Tsikhanouski, the prominent Belarusian opposition figure and 2020 presidential hopeful, was unexpectedly released from prison, five years after being jailed by Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime. Tsikhanovsky is the husband of the current Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who stepped in to run in his place after he was detained, and, according to election observers, won the 2020 presidential elections. Mass protests followed when she was not declared the winner, and the regime strengthened repressions. Tsikhanouskaya has since been living in Lithuania and running an alternative office of the opposition.
In a statement on X, the Lithuanian foreign minister said 14 political prisoners were released and are receiving care in Lithuania. As According to Zerkalo, among those released are five Belarusian political prisoners and one political prisoner with dual citizenship. The opposition media outlet provided the following list:
Syarhey Tsikhanouski: Former presidential candidate in the 2020 election and creator of the YouTube channel A Country for Life. He was detained on May 29, 2020, in Grodno during a signature collection picket for Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s nomination. In December 2021, Tsikhanovski was sentenced to 18 years in a high-security penal colony. Since March 9, 2023, he had been held incommunicado.
Natallia Dulina: Former associate professor in the Department of Italian Language at Minsk State Linguistic University (MSLU). She was detained in October 2022 for participating in protests. Under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them) and Article 361-4 (assisting extremist activity), she was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Ihar Karney: Former Radio Svaboda journalist and blogger. He was accused of “participating in an extremist group” under Part 3 of Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code. He received a sentence of three years and ten months in prison.
Halina Krasnyanskaya: Activist of the Belarusian diaspora in Sweden; holds Swedish citizenship. Detained in Spring 2023 while visiting Belarus, She was charged under Article 361-3 (participation or preparation for participation by a Belarusian citizen in hostilities on the territory of a foreign state without state authorization) and sentenced to five years in prison.
Kiryl Balakhonau: One of five members of the closed chat group Union of the Belarusian National Shield, whose detention was reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in early November 2022. Then 19 years old, Balakhonau was charged with creating an extremist organization and assisting extremist activities. He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Akihiro Haevski-Hanada: Anarchist movement activist. He was detained on August 12, 2020 and charged under 13 articles, including organizing mass riots, creating an extremist organization, and preparing to participate in mass unrest. He was sentenced to 15 years and nine months in prison.
Sergei Sheleg: Pharmaceutical company manager sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison, having been found guilty of financing extremist activities. He was also added to the official list of “terrorists.”
Tsikhanousky’s release, according to senior adviser to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Franak Viačorka, was the result of extensive, long-term diplomatic engagement led by the United States. Viačorka confirmed that the Tsikhanouskaya's office had maintained regular dialogue with the US State Department, embassy officials, and other US agencies, often holding communications multiple times a week.
“This has been a continuous process,” Viačorka explained in an interview with Zerkalo:
The release of political prisoners is something we constantly advocate for. The Americans took this on diplomatically, and they acted because we and others in the democratic movement pushed for it.
Still, the final decision of who would be released lay with Minsk. The names were not confirmed until the very last moment. “We were hoping for 10 to 20 political prisoners to be released, but the final list was uncertain until the end,” said Viačorka. “The regime changes the rules at the last minute. This time, they focused on those with dual citizenship or ties to international media.”
The political prisoners were pardoned by Lukashenka at the request of the president of the United States. “The decision to release Tsikhanouski was made by the president solely on humanitarian grounds, with the aim of reuniting the family,” said Lukashenka’s press secretary, Natallia Eismont, Belsat reports.
Despite the high-profile release, the process contained a lot of uncertainty until the very end. Viačorka admitted that the possibility of Tsikhanouski’s release seemed so unlikely that “until yesterday or the day before, we didn’t even really discuss it.”
“We were expecting others,” he added. “I was sure Ihar Losik would be released — I even came wearing a shirt with his portrait. But he wasn’t on the list.”
Viačorka noted that while the office always advocates for the release of all political prisoners, the final decisions are dictated by the regime. “We can propose names, but ultimately, they choose. And often, they choose those with international visibility or foreign ties.”
Tsikhanouski, once a popular YouTuber who used his platform to expose corruption and amplify citizen voices, may also resume his media work. “We need strong national voices, and Syarhey was one of the strongest,” said Viačorka. “I think he’ll continue doing what he was doing before — maybe even better.”
Belsat reported that Tsikhanouski himself admitted during the press conference:
There are a lot of plans. But I don’t intend to get involved in the activities of [Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s] office. The leader of the opposition is Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya — I’m not going to claim anything.
Despite this high-profile release, it remains unclear whether broader reforms or concessions are on the horizon. The US delegation has remained tight-lipped about the full extent of its negotiations with Lukashenko. “We only know what concerns the political prisoners,” said Viačorka. “We haven’t heard about other outcomes or whether issues like Ukraine were discussed.”
Still, for the democratic forces, the release represents both a symbolic victory and a sobering reminder that many others remain unjustly imprisoned. “We must continue to fight,” Tsikhanouski said. “If you’ve been waiting for a sign — this is it.”
