Political prisoners deported from Belarus to Ukraine are already on their way to Poland, the Nasha Niva portal reported on Wednesday, citing Ivan Kravtsov, an associate of one of those freed, Viktar Babaryka. The group is expected to arrive in Warsaw later the same evening.
Among the 123 released are, among others, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Viktaravich Bialiatski, politician Viktar Babaryka, who was to run in the 2020 presidential election as a rival to Aliaksandr Lukashenka and has been imprisoned ever since, a member of his campaign team Maryja Kalesnikava, and Maryna Zolatava, editor-in-chief of the largest independent portal tut.by. Those released did not include Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist and activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus (ZPB), who was among those honored with the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2025.
Of those released on Saturday, nine people were sent to Vilnius, including Bialiatski; 114 were transferred to Ukraine. As the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for Prisoners of War reported at the time, the group included Ukrainian civilians detained in Belarus and accused of alleged cooperation with Ukrainian special services.
Saturday’s release of political prisoners was the result of an agreement between the Belarusian authorities and the U.S. administration. Prior to the announcement of the release, Belarusian media reported that the United States would lift sanctions on potash from Belarus. Reuters emphasized that potash is a key component of fertilizers and that Belarus is a leading producer.
On Saturday, U.S. envoy John Coale said that close relations between Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin could be “very useful” in difficult mediation efforts aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine.