Belarus releases three detainees, including an American
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not name the American who had been released.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - Three detainees have been released from detention in Belarus, including one American, the White House said on Feb 12, as US President Donald Trump looks to forge a deal to end the war in Ukraine with Minsk’s ally, Russia.
“We can confirm the safe release of one American and two individuals from Belarus,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. Ms Leavitt did not name the American who had been released.
US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) announced that one of those released was its journalist with the network’s Belarus service, Mr Andrei Kuznechyk, who was arrested in November 2021.
“This is a joyous day for Andrei, his wife Alesya and their two young children. After more than three years apart, this family is together again, thanks to President (Donald) Trump,” RFE/RL president and chief executive Stephen Capus said in a statement.
Mr Kuznechyk has been reunited with his family in Lithuania, said Mr Franak Viacorka, chief political adviser to Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
Mrs Tsikhanouskaya, in a post on social media platform X, said activist Alena Maushuk was also released and was in serious health condition, adding that all three of those released were in Vilnius.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the American who had been released.
The Russian embassy in Washington also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Belarusian embassy said in an e-mail that it would have no comment.
The release comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in January that Belarus had “unilaterally released an innocent American”, whom he named as Ms Anastassia Nuhfer. He gave no further details about the case, which had not previously been made public.
A person familiar with efforts to bring home American detainees held abroad said another American remains imprisoned in Belarus.
The source said Mr Youras Ziankovich, a 47-year-old naturalised American who lives in Texas, was arrested in April 2021 while having lunch in Moscow and had not been released on Feb 12.
Mr Ziankovich was hooded, handcuffed and driven to Belarus, where he was tried in secret and sent to prison for allegedly plotting a coup, the source said, adding that he was allowed his first visit from Lithuania-based US diplomats on Jan 5.
The release of detainees from Belarus comes after American school teacher Marc Fogel was released by Russia after three and a half years in prison.
Mr Fogel, 63, was serving a 14-year sentence for drug smuggling after being caught at a Moscow airport with a small amount of marijuana.
He was flown on Feb 11 to Washington, where he celebrated his release with Mr Trump at the White House on the same day. REUTERS
