Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya arrived in Kyiv on May 25, the exiled Belarusian opposition leader’s first trip to Ukraine more than four years into the all-out Russian invasion.
Ahead of meeting with top Ukrainian officials, Tsikhanouskaya laid flowers at the Kyiv grave of Maria Zaytsava, a Belarusian woman who participated in anti-government protests in Minsk and was killed while fighting for Ukraine in 2025.
The trip comes as tensions are ratcheting up between Kyiv and Minsk. Ukraine recently ordered heightened security measures in northern regions bordering Belarus, and Ukrainian and European officials have been concerned over a major Russian-Belarusian nuclear training exercise that just concluded.
“I am going to Ukraine with the question of how we, as Belarusians, as a society, can help Ukraine. We all understand that the results of the war will greatly affect the situation in Belarus,” she told RFE/RL in an interview ahead of the trip.
“If Ukraine wins, it will be the greatest opportunity for Belarusians inside the country to liberate Belarus,” she said during the interview in Prague. “Because, of course, our fate largely depends on the fate of Ukraine, and all Belarusians want to live well, want to live without dictatorship, want to live freely,”
Tsikhanouskaya arrived as the Ukrainian capital cleaned up after a major Russian drone-and-missile attack a day earlier. The attack was one of the worst on the Ukrainian capital in recent memory.
Since February 2022, Belarus has played a reluctant, backseat role in the Russian invasion. Strongman leader Aleksandr Lukashenko allowed Russian forces to use Belarusian territory for the attacks, and Belarusian hospitals have treated wounded Russian soldiers.
But Lukashenko has refused to commit Belarus’s own forces to the fight, despite Russian requests, and he has also tried to position himself as a mediator between Ukraine and the West on one side and Russia on the other.
Last week, Belarus hosted a major nuclear training exercise with Russia, a drill that reportedly featured actual nuclear warheads.
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Attacked By The State And Fractured Within, Belarus Opposition Struggles In ExileIn one signal of mounting Western concern, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Lukashenko by phone over the weekend, warning him against further involvement in the Russian war.
When Ukraine's authorities recently announced enhanced security measures along the border with Belarus, they warned of potential sabotage or other hostile actions.
Tsikhanouskaya was forced to flee Belarus following the 2020 presidential elections where Lukashenko declared victory despite widespread claims of fraud from the Belarusian opposition and the West.
She’s been supported by much of Belarus’ opposition groups, though the wider opposition movement itself is plagued by infighting and disagreements.