The arrest and activism of Tsikhanouski have sparked unprecedented demonstrations in Bélarus, which questions Lukashenko’s rule.
Bélarus opposition chief Siarhei Tsikhanouski was released from prison after five years, said his wife Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya in an article on X.
Tsikhanouskaya, who took over the cause of the opposition after her husband’s imprisonment, shared a video on Saturday, smiling and kissing her after her release with legend: “free”.
“My husband Siarhei is free! It is difficult to describe joy in my heart,” she wrote on X, thanking US President Donald Trump, American envoy Kellogg and European allies.
“We have not finished. 1150 political prisoners remain behind bars. Everything must be released,” she added.
My husband Siarhei is free! It is difficult to describe joy in my heart.
Thank you, 🇺🇸 @Potus,, @Spe_kellogg,, @JohnpcoaleDas Christopher W. Smith, @Statetept & our allies 🇪🇺, for all your efforts.
We are not finished. 1150 Political prisoners remain behind bars. All must be released. pic.twitter.com/mhngqbhfq3
– Sviatlana tsikhanouskaya (@tsihanouskaya) June 21, 2025
Tsikhanouski, 46, is now in the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, said a spokesperson for his wife.
In total, 14 prisoners were released, added the spokesperson. In addition to Tsikhanouski, five nationals of Belarus, three poles, two lettons, two Japanese and one Swedish have been released, Lithuania said.
Among the published people were the former journalist of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Igor Karnei, who was arrested in 2023 for participating in an “extremist” organization.
According to the Lithuanian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kestis Budrys, liberated persons have now been transferred from Belarus to Lithuania, where they receive “appropriate care”.
The announcement came only a few hours after Lukashenko met us with the Keith Kellogg special sending to Minsk, the most prominent visit of an American official in the authoritarian state for years.
Local media reports indicated that the liberation intervened a few hours after the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko met Trump’s Ukrainian envoy, Keith Kellogg, in Minsk.
Tsikhanouski had planned to appear against Lukashenko outing in the August 2020 presidential election. A charismatic activist, he invented a new insult for Lukashenko when he called him a “cockroach” and his country slogan was “stopping the cockroach”. His supporters agitated slippers, often used to kill insects during demonstrations.
But Tsikhanouski was arrested and detained weeks before the vote. His wife, Tsikhanouskaya – A political novice at the time of his arrest, took his place in the polls.
Tsikhanouski was convicted in 2021 At 18 years in prison to “organize riots” and “encourage hatred”, then to an additional 18 months for “insubordination”.
Bélarus, governed by Lukashenko since 1994, has prohibited all opposition movements and is the only European country to maintain the death penalty as a punishment.
There are more than 1,000 political prisoners in the country, according to the Belarusian group of human rights Viasna.