From Prison Cells to Battlefields: Belarusians and Ukrainians against the Russian world

A deeply personal talk by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled leader and President-elect of Belarus, whose husband spent 5 years in jail as a political prisoner.

She will tell the human stories behind today’s headlines - of Belarusians who resist dictatorship, of Ukrainians who fight for survival, and of families divided by repression and war.

Through these stories, Tsikhanouskaya will show how courage, compassion, and solidarity connect both nations - and why their freedom is inseparable from Europe’s moral identity.

Following her keynote, Tsikhanouskaya will participate in an audience question and answer.

About Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is the National Leader of Belarus, the Head of the United Transition Cabinet, and the President-elect of Belarus, who independent observers agree won the presidential election on August 9, 2020, against the long-lasting dictator Aliaksandr Lukashenka. After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, Tsikhanouskaya reformatted the movement's leadership by creating and chairing the United Transition Cabinet, the movement's decision-making centre. Belarusian anti-war activists led by Tsikhanouskaya conducted underground resistance in Belarus by sabotaging the railway transportation of Russian troops as well as volunteering for Belarusian-staffed units fighting for Ukraine.

Event details

Registration: From 5.00pm
Public Lecture: 5.30pm
Networking: 7.00pm (light refreshments available post lecture)