Belarus’ Nasha Niva newspaper on Saturday reported that opposition leader Siarhei Tsikhanouski had been released from prison, where he had been incarcerated since 2020.
Tsikhanouski, one of the leaders the country’s opposition movement, was pardoned, according to rights group Viasna.
A regime-critical blogger, Siarhei Tsikhanouski intended to challenge Alexander Lukashenko for the presidency but he was locked up by the strongman before the election.
Tsikhanouski’s wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who ran against Lukashenko in her husband’s place and has played a leading role in the Belarus opposition since, released a video of his release on Saturday, thanking the US for its efforts.
Tsikhanouski’s release coincided with a rare high-level visit to the country by US Special Envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg.
Kellogg was in Minsk for talks with Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an effort to facilitate an end to Moscow’s ongoing war of aggression in Ukraine.
Edited by Sean Sinico
