Lukashenko released 123 prisoners, including Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of the Belarusian opposition.

Today’s release was reportedly in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions on Belarus’ potash industry.

It is reported that the released Belarusian political prisoners are now in Ukraine. A total of 114 freed persons are reported to have been transferred to Ukraine, 5 of whom are Ukrainian citizens. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that five Ukrainians were among the prisoners released by Belarus through the mediation of the United States, thanking Washington for facilitating their release. According to the US Embassy in Lithuania, 9 of the freed people left Belarus for Vilnius, including the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Beliatsky.

It is noted that those pardoned were from different countries and were convicted of crimes of espionage, terrorism and extremism.

The negotiations with the American delegation took place in two stages: on December 12 and 13, which were closed.

Reuters previously reported, citing “three sources familiar with the situation”, that the administration of US President Donald Trump is discussing with the Belarusian authorities the possibility of quickly releasing at least 100 political prisoners.

Who was released earlier?

This is not the first time that Belarus has released political prisoners through American mediation.

On September 11, 2025, after the previous meeting between Lukashenko and US representatives, 52 political prisoners were released.

As a result of the June 21 meeting between US President Ambassador Keith Kellogg and Alexander Lukashenko, 14 political prisoners were released, including opposition leader Serhei Tikhanovsky and RFE/RL Belarusian service reporter Ihar Losik.

At the beginning of 2025, the representative of the US President, John Cole, visited Belarus, as a result of which, after more than three and a half years of detention, the US citizen Yuras Zyankovich, who was born and raised in Belarus, was released from a Belarusian prison.

On February 12, Andrei Kuznechuk, the correspondent of the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty/Free Europe, was released. He was imprisoned three years ago on charges of hooliganism and extremism, which “Freedom”, American officials and human rights organizations described as fabricated and political. On the same day, two more people were released from a Belarusian prison.

Donald Trump’s efforts to free Belarusian political prisoners

On August 15, US President Donald Trump had a telephone conversation with the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Vladimir Putin. The conversation took place a few hours before the meeting with the Russian president in Alaska.

“I had a wonderful conversation with Lukashenko, the highly respected president of Belarus,” Trump wrote on his Truth social network, detailing that the purpose of the call was to thank Lukashenko for the release of 16 prisoners.

The US president informed that he is considering the release of 1,300 more prisoners.

Since mid-2024, Belarus has released several hundred people convicted of “extremism” and other political “crimes.” Analysts believe that this is an attempt by Lukashenko to ease his isolation from the West. Although Lukashenko himself denies the existence of political prisoners in the country, the persecution of citizens for protests and dissent continues to this day.