Lukashenko Releases 31 Ukrainians Imprisoned In Belarus In US-Brokered Deal

By RFE/RL’s Belarus

Belarusian authoritarian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko has pardoned and released 31 Ukrainian citizens who had been held in Belarus, a move Minsk said was part of an agreement reached with US President Donald Trump.

Ukraine’s prisoner exchange coordination committee confirmed the action on November 22, saying it received the civilians from Belarusian authorities.

“Women and men detained in Belarus ⁠and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment ranging from two to 11 years are returning to Ukraine,” the coordination committee said on Telegram.

“We express our gratitude to the United States of America ⁠and President Donald Trump for their fruitful work in returning Ukrainian civilians and military ⁠personnel from Belarus and Russia,” it added.⁠

The specific charges under which the prisoners had been held were not immediately clear. Ukrainian officials said that “these are civilian men and women who were held for a pro-Ukrainian position, accused of aiding and abetting Ukraine.”

Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has authorized several prisoner releases over the past year as he seeks to improve relations with the West.

The Belarus strongmen is hoping better ties will lead to an easing of Western sanctions, imposed following the country’s cooperation with Russia in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But while Minsk basks in the narrative of warming relations with Washington, dark questions have been raised by accounts of torture and mistreatment related by previously released prisoners.

Trump has named a special envoy to Belarus with a goal of negotiating further releases.

The US president, who surprised many by speaking to Lukashenko by phone in August, said in September that he believed the Eastern European nation would be releasing many of the hundreds of political prisoners it was holding.

“I believe they’re going to be releasing a lot of those 1,400,” Trump told reporters on September 5, adding that it could happen “in the pretty near future.”

Source: Open Newswire @ Lukashenko Releases 31 Ukrainians Imprisoned In Belarus In US-Brokered Deal