Released Belarusian dissident Tsikhanouski vows to fight on : NPR

Syarhei Tsikhanouski, an activist of the Belarusian opposition freed from a prison by the Belarusian authorities, talks during an interview with the Associated Press in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Sunday, June 22, 2025.

Kulbis / AP Mindaugas

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Kulbis / AP Mindaugas

Vilnius, Lithuanie – Siarhei Tsikhanouski is almost unrecognizable. The key opposition figure of Bélarus, imprisoned in 2020 and released unexpectedly on Saturday, weighed once 135 kilograms (298 pounds) at 1.92 meters (almost 6’4 “) high, but is now only 79 kilos (174 pounds).

On Saturday, TsikhnAouski was released alongside 13 other prisoners and brought to Vilnius, the capital of neighboring Lithuania, where he found his wife, the leader of the Belarusian opposition exiled Sviatlana Tsikhanous, and their children. Addressing the Associated Press the next day, Tsikhanouski tries to smile and joke, but has trouble remembering heavy sighs recalling what he endured behind bars.

“It is definitely a torture,” Tsikhanouski told the Associated Press in the first interview seated since his release. The prison officials “did not stop me:” You will be here not only during the 20 years that we have already given you. “We will condemn you again ”, he said.” They told me that “you never go out.” And they continued to repeat: “You will die here.” “”

One of the most important opposition figures in Belarus, Tsikhanousi said that he “had almost forgotten how to speak” during his years to isolation. He was held in full isolation, denied medical care and barely gave enough food.

“If you had seen me when they threw only two spoons of porridge on my plate, two small spoons …”, he said, adding that he could not buy anything in the prison kiosk. “They sometimes gave me a small tube of toothpaste, a small piece of soap like charity. Sometimes they didn’t.”

A prominent dissent voice

Now 46 years old, Tsikhanouski, a popular blogger and activist, was released just hours after the Belarusian authorities announced that authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko met the envoy of American president Donald Trump for Ukraine in the Biélorusian capital, Minsk. Keith Kellogg has become the highest American official in years to visit the Bélarus, the near and dependent ally of Moscow.

Tsikhanouski, known for his anti-Lukashenko slogan “Stop the Cockroach”, was arrested after announcing his intention to challenge the strong man in the 2020 elections and shortly before the start of the campaign. He was sentenced to 19 years and six months on accusations widely considered to be politically motivated. His wife ran in his place, rallying crowds across the country. The official results gave Lukashenko its sixth term, but were denounced by the opposition and the West as an imposture.

Lukashenko has since tightened his grip, guaranteeing a seventh term in contested elections in January 2025. Since mid -2010, his government has pardoned nearly 300 prisoners – including American citizens – in what analysts consider as an attempt to repair links with the West.

Tsikhanouski credited US President Donald Trump for helping his release.

“I thank Donald Trump constantly,” said Tsikhanouski. “They (the Belarusian authorities) want Trump at least, a little, somewhere, to meet them halfway. They are ready to release them all. All!”

Many are still behind bars

Tens of thousands of people flocked in the streets the day after the August 2020 vote. Thousands were arrested, beaten by police. Significant opposition figures have fled the country or have been imprisoned.

At least 1,177 political prisoners remain in detention, according to Viasna, the oldest and most eminent human rights group in Belarus. Among them, the founder of Viasna, human rights activist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Ales Ales Bialiatski.

Viktor Babaryka, a former banker who was widely considered in 2020, as the main electoral rival of Lukashenko, and Maria Kolesnikova, a close ally of Tsikhanouskaya and the charismatic chief of mass demonstrations of this year.

A surprise release and an emotional meeting

Tsikhanouski called his release “a dream that is always difficult to believe”. On Saturday, he said, the guards withdrew him from a detention center before the KGB trial, put a black bag above his head and handcuffed it before transporting it to a minibus. He and other prisoners did not know where they were going.

“To be honest, I still can’t believe it. I was afraid of wake up and everything would always be the same. I don’t believe it, I still don’t believe it,” he said, stopping frequently and wiping tears.

The children of Tsikhanouski – his daughter, aged 9 and son of 15 years – did not recognize him when they were gathered.

Syarhei Tsikhanouski, on the left, activist of the Belarusian opposition freed from a Belarusian prison, kisses his wife, the head of the Belarusian opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, after a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, June 22, 2025.

Kulbis / AP Mindaugas

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Kulbis / AP Mindaugas

“We entered and my wife said to my daughter,” Your father arrived “,” he said, shouting. “At the beginning, she could not understand, then she rushed – she was crying, I was crying … For a very long time. My son too! These are emotions that cannot be described.”

Tsikhanouski, who says that his health has deteriorated behind bars, plans to undergo a medical examination in Lithuania. He says that cold and hunger were “the main causes of the disease” which affected almost all the Bélarus political prisoners, who were subject to “particularly severe conditions”.

“There were skin diseases, and everyone had kidney problems – and no one really understood what was going on,” said Tsikhanouski. “The blood came out of my mouth, my nose. Sometimes I had convulsions – but it was because of the cold, this terrible cold when you sit in these punishment cells.”

“There are no medical care in prison – none at all, just so that you know …” he said.

Tsikhanouski said the conditions have improved slightly after the death of February 2024 of the Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny in a prison colony.

“When Alexei Navalny died, I thought it will probably be me soon … And then something changed. It was clear that someone at the top said:” Make sure they don’t die here. We don’t need this problem. “It has become a little sweeter … At one point, the word came down: Tsikhanouski must be maintained alive, not killed.”

Pointing your finger on Putin

Tsikhanouski blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for supporting Lukashenko, both during the 2020 demonstrations and to date.

Russia supports the Economy of Belarus with bonds and subsidized oil and gas. In return, the Bélarus allowed Moscow to use its territory to launch troops and weapons in Ukraine, and welcomes Russian forces and nuclear weapons.

Tsikhanouski has expressed strong support for Ukraine, qualifying the Kremlin as an unhealthy for the two countries.

“If it was not for Putin, we already lived in a different country. Putin recognized Lukashenko’s victory in the elections, he called Black White. That is to say he refused to see falsifications,” said Tsikhanouski. “They help each other. Because of Putin, this illegal government is still in Bélarus.”

Some analysts have hypothesized that by releasing charismatic and energetic tsikhanouski, Belarusian authorities can try to sow the division in opposition. But Tsikhanouski insists on the fact that he does not intend to challenge the role of his wife as head of the Biélorusian opposition internationally recognized, and he calls for unity.

“In any case, I do not plan to criticize the Belarusians, to condemn or complain about anyone,” he said.

Tsikhanouski says he will not stop fighting and wants to return to active work as a political character and blogger. But it is skeptical that Lukashenko, now 70, will voluntarily resign, despite his age.

“I don’t know-will he go or not?” Tsikhanouski said. “Many people say that nothing will change until his death. But I still count on the victory of the Democratic Forces.”