After enduring more than five years in harsh Belarusian prisons—most of it in complete isolation—opposition figure Siarhei (Sergei) Tsikhanouski emerged physically emaciated but resolute, having lost nearly half his body weight. From a robust 135 kg (298 lb) at 1.92 m tall, he now weighs just 79 kg (174 lb), a testament to the brutal conditions he survived. Tsikhanouski was arrested in May 2020 while planning to run for president against Alexander Lukashenko and sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison on politically motivated charges.

He was held in small, frigid cells, deprived of medical care, basic hygiene, warm clothing, and even adequate food. “They threw only two spoons of porridge onto my plate…sometimes a little tube of toothpaste, a little piece of soap as charity,” he recounted. Throughout his imprisonment, guards harassed him with threats: “You will die here… We will convict you again,” he was told constantly. In that cruel isolation, he “almost forgot how to speak,” he shared.

On June 21, 2025, he was unexpectedly freed alongside 13 other political detainees after a rare visit to Minsk by U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg—a move widely seen as part of a Western diplomatic push toward Belarus. He reunited with his wife, exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and their children in Vilnius, Lithuania. His daughter, aged nine, didn’t initially recognize him; both she and his 15‑year‑old son were moved to tears at their reunion.

Despite suffering severe physical and psychological trauma—including convulsions, bleeding from cold-induced ailments, and kidney problems—Tsikhanouski declared himself "not broken." He called the experience “definitely torture” but expressed unwavering commitment to the pro-democracy cause. He acknowledged some improvement in his treatment following the February 2024 death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which reportedly signaled to authorities that he must be kept alive.

Tsikhanouski’s release is being hailed as both a diplomatic signal and a rallying point for Belarus’s opposition movement. In Vilnius, he vowed to continue his activism and urged U.S. President Trump to intervene on behalf of the more than 1,100 political prisoners still detained in Belarus. Though profoundly changed physically, Tsikhanouski remains steadfast. His message is clear: he may have lost half his weight and endured a jailhouse ordeal, but he stands unbroken—ready to fight onward for a free Belarus.