Belarusian opposition leader Siarhei Tsikhanouski has been freed from prison following a US-brokered deal and a meeting with a Trump envoy.

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In a significant turn of events, Belarusian opposition leader Siarhei Tsikhanouski has been freed from prison following a US-brokered deal. This development comes after a meeting on June 21, 2025, between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and a US envoy, highlighting the ongoing international focus on Belarus’s political landscape.

5 Key Takeaways Lukashenko frees Belarusian opposition leader.

Husband of opposition leader released from prison.

US-brokered deal leads to leader’s freedom.

Ukraine deploys Termit ground drone in battlefield.

Siarhei Tsikhanouski’s release confirmed by wife.

The release of Tsikhanouski, a prominent figure in the Belarusian opposition, is seen as a crucial step towards dialogue in a nation that has faced widespread protests against Lukashenko’s regime. His wife confirmed the News, further igniting hopes for a more democratic future in Belarus.

Fast Answer: Siarhei Tsikhanouski’s release marks a pivotal moment for Belarus, potentially reshaping the political dynamics and international relations in the region.

This unexpected release raises questions about the future of Belarusian politics. Will this gesture lead to genuine reform, or is it merely a strategic move by Lukashenko? Consider the following points:

Increased international pressure may influence Belarus’s political climate.

The release could inspire further opposition movements within the country.

US involvement highlights a shift in diplomatic strategies in Eastern Europe.

This development underscores the global relevance of Belarusian politics, as international stakeholders remain invested in the country’s path towards democracy.

As the situation evolves, it is essential for the global community to stay engaged and support movements advocating for democratic reforms in Belarus.

Summary

Companies Release brokered by US special envoy Kellogg, Lithuania PM’s spokesperson says

Tsikhanouski’s wife thanks Trump, Kellogg

Kellogg met with Belarusian President Lukashenko, Belta agency says

Lukashenko pardoned those released

VILNIUS, June 21 (Reuters) – Belarus opposition leader Siarhei Tsikhanouski and 13 other prisoners have been released from jail and are now free in Lithuania, the neighbouring country’s government said on Saturday.

The release was brokered by U.S. special envoy Keith Kellogg, a spokesperson for Lithuania’s prime minister said.

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Kellogg earlier met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the country’s state news agency Belta said.

Tsikhanouski’s wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in a post on social media platform X thanked U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as Kellogg and others for their efforts to secure her husband’s release.

“We’re not done,” Tsikhanouskaya wrote on her X account, calling for the release of a further 1,150 prisoners.

Lukashenko issued pardons for all those released in response to a U.S. request, the president’s spokeswoman, Natalya Eismont, said in a statement.

Eismont’s statement on the Pul Pervogo Telegram channel close to the president, said the Belarusian nationals among the 14 released detainees had been “convicted of extremist and terrorist activity”.

She said the decision to release Tsikhanouski was “taken by the president strictly on humanitarian considerations with the aim of family reunification”.

Tsikhanouski was seen emerging from a van with a shaven head, smiling and immediately stepping up to hug his wife in a long embrace, a video released by her office showed.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Kellogg, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Belarus in years, saw his mission as one that could help jump-start peace talks aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine

“President Trump encouraged this trip,” Kellogg’s deputy John Coale said in a video posted on his account on X.

Presidential spokeswoman Eismont, quoted by the Belta agency, said Kellogg’s talks with Lukashenko had begun on Friday evening and lasted 6-1/2 hours over dinner.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya holds an image of her husband Syarhei Tsikhanouski, who is jailed in Belarus, as she attends the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2024. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

“It was night when it ended,” Eismont was quoted as saying, adding that the two sides discussed the Ukraine conflict, the Middle East , relations between Russia, Belarus and China and sanctions policy.

“The subjects discussed were as current as can be imagined. They talked about things that concern the entire world.”

RELEASED DETAINEES FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

Five Belarus nationals were released along with three Poles, two Latvians, two Japanese citizens, one Estonian and one Swede, Lithuania said.

Among those released by Belarus was Ihar Karnei, a former journalist at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement thanking Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others.

“We thank Secretary Rubio and his team, the Lithuanian government, and the international community for their support of our imprisoned journalists,” he added.

VON DER LEYEN, POLAND WELCOME THE RELEASE

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X that the release was “fantastic news and a powerful symbol of hope for all the political prisoners suffering under the brutal Lukashenka (sic) regime”.

“The free world needs you, Siarhei!”, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on X.

A Belarus court in 2021 found Tsikhanouski, a 43-year-old video blogger, guilty of organising mass unrest and of inciting social hatred, and handed him one of the longest jail terms in modern Belarusian history.

His supporters said the charges were fabricated and politically motivated, and his wife has called the verdict political revenge.

His wife ran in the elections in his place, and mass protests broke out after Lukashenko said he’d won the elections. Tsikhanouskaya has since left the country for exile in Lithuania.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why Kellogg travelled to Minsk and met Lukashenko.

Reporting by Andrius Sytas; Additional reporting by Fylyp Lebediev and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Mark Potter, Franklin Paul, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Ron Popeski and Marguerita Choy

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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.

Belarus opposition leader Siarhei Tsikhanouski freed from jail after rare visit by top US envoy

A jailed opposition leader in Belarus has been freed and is now in Lithuania.

Siarhei Tsikhanouski was released along with 13 other political prisoners following talks between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Keith Kellogg, who is President Trump’s envoy for Ukraine.

Mr Kellogg became the highest-ranking US official in years to visit Belarus, which is a close ally of Russia.

Mr Tsikhanouski, a blogger and activist, was arrested after announcing he would run for the presidency against Mr Lukashenko in the 2020 election. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison the following year after a court found him guilty of organising mass unrest and of inciting social hatred.

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After he was detained, his wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya ran in his place and she became an opposition leader who is now in exile in Lithuania.

Although Mr Lukashenko was officially declared the winner of the election, the result was denounced by the opposition and the West as a sham.

On Saturday, a video on Ms Tsikhanouskaya’s social media showed Mr Tsikhanouski getting out of a minibus and smiling despite his emaciated appearance. He and his wife hugged as their supporters clapped.

She said: “My husband is free. It’s difficult to describe the joy in my heart.”

She thanked Mr Trump, Mr Kellogg and “all European allies” for their efforts in getting him released.

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But she added her team’s work was “not finished”, with more than 1,100 political prisoners still locked up in Belarus.

The 14 who were freed on Saturday included five Belarus nationals as well as three Poles, two Latvians, two Japanese citizens, one Estonian and one Swede.

Among those released was Ihar Karnei, a former journalist at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

‘Free world needs you’

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X the release was “fantastic news and a powerful symbol of hope for all the political prisoners suffering under the brutal Lukashenka (sic) regime”.

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“The free world needs you, Siarhei!”, Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on X.

At the meeting between Mr Lukashenko and Mr Kellogg in the Belarusian capital Minsk, the pair hugged.

Mr Lukashenko said: “I really hope that our conversation will be very sincere and open. Otherwise, what is the point of meeting?

“If we are clever and cunning in front of each other, we will not achieve results. You have made a lot of noise in the world with your arrival.”

Mr Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, secured a seventh term in office following an election in January this year that the opposition called a farce.

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Could Belarus sanctions be lifted?

It was not immediately clear whether Mr Kellogg’s visit might pave the way for the lifting of some US sanctions against Belarus.

They were imposed over the crackdown on the 2020 protests and Mr Lukashenko’s support of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Belarus has allowed the Kremlin to use its territory to send troops and weapons into Ukraine, and also to put its forces and nuclear weapons there.

Belarus has freed Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a key dissident figure and the husband of exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and 13 others following a rare visit by a senior U.S. official, Tsikhanouskaya’s team announced on Saturday.

Tsikhanouski, a popular blogger and activist who was imprisoned in 2020, arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, alongside 13 other political prisoners, his wife’s team said. The release came just hours after Belarusian authorities announced that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko met with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine in Minsk. Keith Kellogg became the highest-ranking U.S. official in years to visit Belarus, Moscow’s close and dependent ally.

A video published on Tsikhanouskaya’s official Telegram account showed Tsikhanouski disembarking a white minibus, smiling broadly despite his shaved head and emaciated frame. He pulled his wife into a long embrace as their supporters applauded.

“My husband is free. It’s difficult to describe the joy in my heart,” Tsikhanouskaya told reporters. But she added her team’s work is “not finished” while over 1,100 political prisoners remain behind bars in Belarus.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Belarus frees American woman from detention as strongman leader looks to extend 30-year rule

Tsikhanouski, known for his anti-Lukashenko slogan “stop the cockroach,” was jailed after announcing plans to challenge the strongman in the 2020 election. Following his arrest, his wife ran in his stead, rallying large crowds across the country. Official results of the election handed Lukashenko his sixth term in office but were denounced by the opposition and the West as a sham.

A crackdown snuffed out protests after 2020 election

Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets in the aftermath of the August 2020 vote, in the largest protests in the country’s history. In the ensuing crackdown, more than 35,000 people were detained, with many beaten by police. Prominent opposition figures either fled the country or were imprisoned. Tsikhanouski was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison on charges of organizing mass riots.

Lukashenko has since extended his rule for a seventh term following a January 2025 election that the opposition called a farce. Since July 2024, he has pardoned nearly 300 people, including imprisoned U.S. citizens, seeking to mend ties with the West.

At the meeting in Minsk, Lukashenko hugged and warmly welcomed Kellogg and the American delegation to his residence.

“I really hope that our conversation will be very sincere and open. Otherwise, what is the point of meeting? If we are clever and cunning in front of each other, we will not achieve results,” Lukashenko said. “You have made a lot of noise in the world with your arrival.”

Lukashenko’s press secretary, Natalya Eismont, told Russian state media hours later that he freed the 14 prisoners following a request from U.S. President Donald Trump.

IN RELATED NEWS | US involved in the release of 3 ‘political prisoners’ with Belarus

It was not immediately clear whether Kellogg’s visit might pave the way for the lifting of some U.S. sanctions against Minsk, imposed over the brutal crackdown against the 2020 protests and Lukashenko’s support of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine.

“Lukashenko is clearly trying to get out of international isolation, and the release of such a large group of political prisoners signals a desire to start a dialogue with the U.S. in order to soften international sanctions,” Belarusian political analyst Valery Karbalevich told The Associated Press.

“After five years, Lukashenko is trying to loosen the knot with which the Kremlin tied him, using him for the war against Ukraine,” Karbalevich said.

Belarus has allowed the Kremlin to use its territory to send troops and weapons into Ukraine, and also to station its forces and nuclear weapons there.

Others remain behind bars

Many other prominent dissidents still languish in Belarusian jails, among them Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, a human rights advocate serving a 10-year prison sentence on charges widely denounced as politically motivated.

Bialiatski, founder of Viasna, Belarus’ oldest and most prominent rights group, was arrested in 2021 during raids by the country’s main security agency that still goes by its Soviet-era name, the KGB.

In March 2023, he was convicted on charges of smuggling and financing actions that “grossly violated public order,” and sentenced to 10 years. Authorities labeled him especially dangerous because of alleged “extremist” tendencies.

He, his family and supporters say the charges against him are politically motivated, and a U.N. panel of human rights experts called on Belarus to release him. In 2022, when Bialiatski was behind bars, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with the prominent Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties.

Bialiatski has been serving his sentence at a penal colony for repeat offenders in the city of Gorki. The facility is notorious for beatings and hard labor. Bialiatski’s wife warned last year about his deteriorating health, saying the 62-year-old battles multiple chronic illnesses.

Also behind bars is Viktor Babaryka, a former banker who was widely seen in 2020 as Lukashenko’s main electoral rival, and Maria Kolesnikova, a close ally of Tsikhanouskaya and charismatic leader of that year’s mass protests. With her close-cropped hair and trademark gesture of forming her hands into the shape of a heart, Kolesnikova became an even greater symbol of resistance when Belarusian authorities tried to deport her. She responded by tearing up her passport at the border and walking back into Belarus.

A journalist walks free, but many more languish

Released alongside Tsikhanouski was longtime Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty correspondent Ihar Karnei, the U.S. government-funded broadcaster confirmed. Karnei, who had also worked with prominent Belarusian and Russian newspapers, had been serving a three-year service on extremism charges he rejected as a sham.

RFE/RL’s Belarusian service had been designated extremist in the country, a common label handed to anyone who criticizes Lukashenko’s government. As a result, working for it or spreading its content has become a criminal offense.

“We are deeply grateful to President Trump for securing the release of this brave journalist, who suffered at the hands of the Belarusian authorities,” the broadcaster’s CEO Stephen Capus said Saturday in a press release.

EARLIER THIS YEAR | Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of prisoners in first phase of a major exchange

Karnei was detained several times while covering the 2020 protests. Unlike many of his colleagues, he chose to stay in Belarus despite the ensuing repression. He was arrested again in July 2023, as police raided his apartment seizing phones and computers.

The group Reporters Without Borders says Belarus is Europe’s leading jailer of journalists. At least 40 are serving long prison sentences, according to the independent Belarusian Association of Journalists. Many face beatings, poor medical care and the inability to contact lawyers or relatives, according to activists and former inmates.

Belarus also freed an Estonian national who had set up an NGO to raise funds for Belarusian refugees. According to the Estonian Foreign Ministry, Allan Roio was detained last January, and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison on charges of establishing an extremist organization.