Lukashenko releases 14 political prisoners after Trump’s envoy to Ukraine visits
Prominent Belarusian opposition figure Sergei Tikhanovski has been released after spending more than five years in prison, his wife and leading opposition figure, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, announced this Saturday, on a day when 13 other political prisoners were released.
“My husband Sergei has been released. It’s hard to describe the joy I feel in my heart,” Tikhanovskaya said after welcoming her husband to the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, before thanking US President Donald Trump and his special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, for their mediation work.
Tikhanovskaya was arrested in 2020 in the city of Grodno for allegedly organizing mass riots after attempting to register as a candidate in the controversial presidential elections held that same year, which resulted in the victory of President Alexander Lukashenko. He was sentenced in 2021 to 18 years in prison.
Tikhanovskaya, who has reported that there are still some 1,150 political prisoners in Belarus, later published another message in which she appears talking with other “heroes freed after years of torture in KGB prisons.”
“Thanks to their tireless efforts by the United States and the unwavering support of the European Union, they are no longer behind bars, although they have been forced into exile,” the Belarusian opposition leader said.
“Now we must help them heal and continue fighting for those still imprisoned,” added Tikhanovskaya, an opposition leader who has spent years denouncing Lukashenko’s fraudulent practices to perpetuate his leadership of the country, a mandate he first assumed in 1994.
Kellogg traveled to Belarus this Saturday to meet with President Lukashenko. His deputy, John Coale, later posted a message on his social media account X confirming the release of Tikhanovskaya and 13 other political prisoners thanks to mediation by the United States and the Lithuanian government, without providing details about their identities.
“President Trump’s strong leadership today led to the release of 14 prisoners from Belarus. Thank you to the Lithuanian government for their cooperation and assistance; they remain a true friend and ally,” Coale said.
