Overview
- Those freed include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, protest leader Maria Kolesnikova, and former presidential hopeful Viktar Babaryka.
- Most of the released were transferred out of Belarus, with Ukraine receiving 114 people and Lithuania taking nine, officials said.
- U.S. envoy John Coale, citing instructions from President Trump, announced the lifting of potash sanctions after two days of talks in Minsk that also covered the Russia–Ukraine war.
- Rights groups say hundreds remain jailed, with Viasna estimating roughly 1,200 political prisoners still in detention, and opposition figures warn against broad concessions.
- The group included foreign nationals, with U.S. officials saying at least one American was among those released, while EU measures on Belarusian potash remain in place.