00:30 (IST) Jun 22

Belarus has released prominent dissident Siarhei Tsikhanouski, who is married to opposition leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, along with 13 other individuals. This development followed an unusual visit from a high-ranking U.S. official, as confirmed by Tsikhanouskaya’s representatives on Saturday. The release occurred shortly after Belarusian officials disclosed that President Alexander Lukashenko had discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump’s Ukraine representative in Minsk. Keith Kellogg’s visit marked the first by a senior U.S. official to Belarus, a nation closely aligned with Moscow, in several years.

Tsikhanouskaya’s official Telegram channel featured footage showing Tsikhanouski, with a shaved head and thin appearance, stepping down from a white minibus with a broad smile. The video captured an emotional moment as he embraced his wife whilst supporters cheered.

“My husband is free. It’s difficult to describe the joy in my heart,” Tsikhanouskaya told reporters. She noted, however, that their mission continues as more than 1,100 political prisoners remain incarcerated in Belarus.

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.

Israel-Iran live: Trump arrives back at White House as Security Council mulls Iran action

Be the first to get Breaking News Install the Sky News app for free

X X , which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the This content is provided by, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enablecookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to X cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow X cookies for this session only. Enable Cookies Allow Cookies Once

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.

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.

Read more Trump news and analysis:

Pakistan says it will nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

US warplanes transit through UK as Trump considers striking Iran

Trump’s credibility gap and why Iran may want to take its chances in Israel conflict

Image: Ms Tsikhanouskaya in January 2025 with a picture of her husband. Pic: Reuters

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.

Image: Ihar Karnei, a former journalist at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has also been freed from jail. Pic: AP

‘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”.

“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.

Image: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko greets Trump envoy Keith Kellogg in Minsk. Pic: AP

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.

Follow the World Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday Tap to follow

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.

Tallinn (Estonia), Jun 21 (AP) Belarus has freed Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a key dissident figure and the husband of exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, following a visit there by a senior Trump administration official, Tsikhanouskaya’s team announced on Saturday.

It said Tsikhanouski, a popular blogger and activist, had arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, alongside 13 other political prisoners.

Tsikhanouski’s release came just hours after the Belarusian authorities announced that the country’s authoritarian President, Alexander Lukashenko, met with Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg in Minsk.

Tsikhanouski was jailed in 2020 after announcing plans to challenge Lukashenko in that year’s election. Following his arrest, his wife ran in his stead, rallying large crowds in her support 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.

Amid unprecedented protests that broke out in the aftermath of the vote, Tsikhanouskaya left the country under pressure from the authorities.

Her husband was later sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison on charges of organising mass riots. (AP) PY

PY