The exiled leader of Belarus’ democratic opposition is warning the United States that abandoning Ukraine in its fight against Russia and its President Vladimir Putin would threaten the security of all of Eastern Europe.
“Belarusian people and Ukrainians are facing the same enemy – imperialistic ambitions of Russia. And we have to fight the sentiment together,” Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told CNN’s Chief National Security Analyst Jim Sciutto.
“Without free and independent and safe Ukraine, there will be no safe Belarus. But also vice versa. Without free Belarus, there will be constant threat to all our neighbors in the whole region,” she added.
Tsikhanouskaya’s husband was imprisoned after announcing he would challenge Belarus’ longtime leader, Alexander Lukashenko, in the 2020 presidential election. She ultimately ran in his place in an election widely considered fraudulent.
Tsikhanouskaya fled with her children to Lithuania in the same year, after Lukashenko’s government, with aid from Russia, forcefully stamped down pro-democracy protests.
Tsikhanouskaya says she has few details about her husband’s safety in prison, sharing with CNN, “I haven’t heard about my husband since March this year. [The] lawyer is not allowed to visit him, letters are not delivered. So I am not sure if he is alive.”
