Tsikhanouskaya remains Belarusian opposition leader – her freed husband

VILNIUS – Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will continue to lead the Belarusian opposition, her husband Syarhei Tsikhanouski said after his recent release from prison.

"Sviatlana remains the opposition leader. I don't believe someone coming out of five years in isolation can suddenly become can suddenly become a leader out of nowhere," Tsikhanouski told reporters through a translator at a press conference in Vilnius on Sunday.

"We have 1,100 other leaders like this who are still in prison," he added.

Tsikhanouski and 13 other political prisoners were released on Saturday, just hours after Belarusian authorities announced that the country's authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, had met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Minsk.

When asked by journalists whether the opposition plans to continue its activities in exile and whether he intends to return home, Tsikhanouski said he hopes to return but did not specify when.

"Of course, I hope to return to Belarus one day. But right now, I feel like I'm in a parallel universe – I spent five years in solitary confinement, completely alone," the 46-year-old said.

"Over the last three years, I received almost no information – just fragments. Now I feel a bit like I'm in the movie 'Back to the Future' and have to piece together a lot of information to understand what's going on and to orient myself in this reality," he added.

'NEVER A PRO-RUSSIAN POLITICIAN'

When asked by Lithuanian journalists about his visit to Russian-occupied Crimea in 2017 and whether he is pro-Russian, Tsikhanouski denied supporting Russia.

He said he visited Crimea for a day or two "some years ago" at a friend's invitation, describing it as a "pilgrimage" to visit holy sites.

"I was never a pro-Russian politician. I've always been a Belarusian politician. They were shouting that there was some kind of Russian passport – I have never had a Russian passport."

Tsikhanouski said he had two offices – one in Belarus, one in Moscow – and one in Kyiv, and had a company in Lithuania that never operated because he had just bought it.

"At the time, I was working in Russia and once went on a trip somewhere – I didn't consider it 'ours' or 'yours'," the man said, referring to Crimea. "I wasn't involved in politics then; I wasn't a blogger – I was just an ordinary Belarusian." 

"Crimea is Ukrainian territory. And I don't support any of Russia's claims to certain territories of Ukraine. I fully support Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky. I absolutely admire him; he's a hero to me," he said.

Tsikhanouski said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime is a common enemy of both Ukrainians and Belarusians.

"Putin's regime – until it falls, there can be no victory in Belarus," he said. "Putin calls black white just because it suited him in 2020."

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys on Sunday dismissed suggestions that Tsikhanouski is pro-Russian, noting that he is a symbol of the Belarusian opposition and was imprisoned for political reasons.

"I think this is where we should stop when assessing the situation. Five years in a Belarusian prison – look at how a person looks after that. For me, it's also a duty to bring all Lithuanian citizens home," the minister said.

Tsikhanouski had spent more than five years in prison.

He had planned to run against Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election, but was arrested and detained weeks before the vote. His wife, Sviatlana, then a political novice, ran in his place.

Tsikhanouski was sentenced in 2021 to 18 years in prison for "organizing riots" and "inciting hatred", then to another 18 months for "insubordination".

Belarus, ruled by Lukashenko since 1994, has outlawed all opposition movements and remains the only European country that retains the death penalty.

According to the Belarusian human rights group Viasna, the country still holds more than 1,000 political prisoners in its jails.