Her husband is probably in prison in Belarus, and she herself was sentenced to 15 years in prison – but fled to Lithuania with her children. The Belarusian civil rights activist Svetlana Tichanovskaya on life far away from home.
In fact, I am just one of hundreds of thousands of Belarusians who have been forced to leave the country since the stolen 2020 election. People fled repression, torture and humiliation, lawlessness and violence. Many tried to hold out until one day the KGB knocked on their doors. None of us wanted to flee the country we love and honor so much. As exiles, we feel a deep love for the land we left behind, for our culture and national identity. In many ways, this love away from home deepens and strengthens our resolve to keep our culture alive even when the dictator at home seeks to destroy it.