Kiev has said that more than 100 prisoners freed by Belarus have been sent to Ukraine, including protest leader Maria Kolesnikova.
“After receiving necessary medical care and if they so wish, the released citizens of Belarus will be transported to Poland and Lithuania,” Kiev’s prisoner of war coordination centre said in a statement on Saturday, adding 114 of the 123 people freed were now in Ukraine.
Speaking in Vilnius, a spokesperson for exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said they were “unexpectedly” sent to Ukraine rather than Lithuania, a decision taken by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Among those freed by Belarus were opposition leader Viktor Babariko, Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatksi and opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova, a rights group said.
The releases come after a US envoy earlier said Washington was lifting sanctions on Belarusian potassium.
Efforts to improve ties with West