February 12, 2025 – Michele Kelemen, Charles Maynes, NPR
Link to original article.
People demonstrate against political persecution in front of a Belarusian embassy on Jan. 26, 2025. Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The White House says Belarus has freed three prisoners, including an American and an employee of a U.S.- funded radio station. The release comes a day after American teacher Marc Fogel was freed from jail in Russia.
The United States released Alexander Vinnik, a convicted Russian money launderer, in exchange for Fogel, who spent three years in prison for bringing medical marijuana into Russia.
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the separate deal with Russia’s neighbor Belarus, saying, “It speaks to President Trump’s deal-making ability, and we can confirm the safe release of one American and two individuals from Belarus, one of whom worked for Radio Liberty.”
She didn’t identify the individuals, but Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty thanked the Trump administration for getting its employee Andrey Kuznechyk out after more than three years in jail. (Ihar Losik, another RFE/RL employee, remains behind bars in the former Soviet state).
Kuznechyk had a “joyous reunion” with his wife and two young children in neighboring Lithuania, according to RFE/RL president Stephen Capus, who was there. Kuznechyk got down on the floor to play with his five-year-old son, who was a baby when Kuznechyk was arrested more than three years ago, Capus said.
Kuznechyk was unjustly held for doing his job reporting in Minsk when RFE/RL was allowed to operate there, Capus said.
“Now, we have been designated [in Belarus] as an extremist organization and Andrey is one of the first people to pay the price,” Capus told NPR in a telephone call from Lithuania. He said he was told that the U.S. did not release anyone in exchange for Kuznechyk and that U.S. officials are “determined to see the day when Ihar [Losik] comes out as well.”
In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked Lithuania “for its cooperation and assistance — they remain a true ally and friend.” He concluded, “We remain committed to the release of other U.S. citizens in Belarus and elsewhere. We call for the release of nearly 1,300 political prisoners who remain in jail across Belarus.”
On its Telegram channel, Nexta, a Belarusian opposition outlet, identified the other released Belarusian on Wednesday as activist Alena Movshuk, who was detained in connection with her participation in the 2020 protests against a widely disputed reelection of Kremlin ally President Alexander Lukashenko.
Last month, the Trump administration celebrated what it termed the “unilateral release” of another American citizen from prison in Belarus. In a post to the social media platform X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio identified the American as Anastassia Nuhfer — and claimed she had been detained by Belarus during the Biden administration, without providing details. The State Department later clarified Nuhfer had been arrested in December of last year.
Her release fell on the same day that Lukashenko was set to win a seventh term in office, extending his 31-year hold over the country. Yet Nuhfer’s release followed a series of recent pardons of political prisoners by Lukashenko.
Analysts say the moves signal an attempt by the Belarusian leader to reengage with the West following years of sanctions imposed over repressions at home and his support for Russia’s actions in neighboring Ukraine.