Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
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Святлана Ціханоўская
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Tsikhanouskaya in 2021
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| President of the Coordination Council of Belarus | |
| Assumed office 14 August 2020 |
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| Cabinet Head | Herself |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Head of the United Transitional Cabinet | |
| Assumed office 9 August 2022 |
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| President | Herself |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Sviatlana Heorhiyeuna Pilipchuk
11 September 1982 Mikashevichy, Brest Region, Soviet Union |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse |
Sergei Tikhanovsky
(m. 2004) |
| Children | Ahniya and Karney |
| Education | Mozyr State Pedagogical University |
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (born 11 September 1982) is a political activist from Belarus. She became a leader of the opposition after the 2020 Belarusian presidential election. She ran against the long-time president, Alexander Lukashenko.
After the election, many people believed the results were not fair. Tsikhanouskaya now leads a group that opposes Lukashenko's government. This group works from outside Belarus, mainly from Lithuania and Poland.
Tsikhanouskaya became a leader when her husband, Syarhei Tsikhanouski, wanted to run for president in 2020. He was arrested, like many other opposition leaders. Because she could not sign him up for the election, Sviatlana decided to run herself. Lukashenko allowed her to run because he thought a woman would not be a serious challenge.
She promised to change the country's laws to allow for free and fair elections. She also said she would step down once these changes were made. After Lukashenko was announced as the winner, Tsikhanouskaya was forced to leave Belarus and go to Lithuania. Many countries and election observers believe the election was not fair. Lithuania sees Tsikhanouskaya as the rightful leader of Belarus.
Since moving to Lithuania, Tsikhanouskaya has created groups to oppose the government. She started the Coordination Council in 2020 and the United Transitional Cabinet in 2022. She meets with leaders from around the world. She talks about putting pressure on Lukashenko's government and not seeing him as the true leader. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she has also spoken out. She wants more support for Ukraine and for people to remember the fight against the dictatorship in Belarus. In 2023, the Belarusian government sentenced her to fifteen years in prison while she was not in the country.
Contents
Her Early Life
Growing Up in Belarus
Sviatlana Pilipchuk was born on 11 September 1982. She grew up in a village called Mikashevichy in Belarus. Her father worked at a concrete factory, and her mother was a cook. Sviatlana lived in a simple apartment building. She spent a lot of time reading books, including some from the United States. She read them to learn English and understand more about the world.
Helping Others After Chernobyl
Her village was close to the Chernobyl exclusion zone. When she was twelve, a charity called Chernobyl Lifeline helped her travel to Roscrea, Ireland. This charity helped children reduce their exposure to radiation. Sviatlana was good at school, which helped her get a spot on the trip. While in Ireland, she helped translate for other children.
She stayed with a family, the Deanes, who became like second parents to her. She visited them for three more summers. Sviatlana felt Ireland was a happier place than Belarus. She still keeps in touch with the Deanes today.
Education and Family Life
Sviatlana went to Mozyr State Pedagogical University to study teaching. In 2003, she met Syarhei Tsikhanouski, who owned a nightclub. They married in 2004, and she took his last name, Tsikhanouskaya. They have two children, a son and a daughter.
Her son was born mostly deaf. Sviatlana spent a lot of time helping him. She moved to Gomel so he could get special treatment, including a cochlear implant. Before 2020, Tsikhanouskaya worked as an English teacher and interpreter. She stopped working to spend more time raising her children. She also took her children out of school when the COVID-19 pandemic started, because the government was not taking many safety steps.
The 2020 Presidential Election
How the Campaign Started
In 2019, Sviatlana's husband, Syarhei Tsikhanouski, started a YouTube channel. He used it to talk about problems in Belarus and challenge President Lukashenko. He became a well-known opposition leader. He planned to run in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election. However, he was arrested just days before the deadline to sign up.
Sviatlana tried to sign him up, but she was not allowed. So, she decided to sign herself up instead. She later said she did this just to show support for her husband. She officially registered as an independent candidate on 14 July 2020.
At first, Sviatlana did not want to lead a campaign. When her husband was briefly released, he continued the campaign, even though her name was on the papers. She easily got the 100,000 signatures needed to run. Her candidacy was confirmed on 19 July 2020. From that day, she started traveling across Belarus for campaign events.
Leading the Opposition
Syarhei Tsikhanouski was arrested again. This time, he was accused of attacking a police officer, but many believed it was a setup. With her husband in prison, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya became the main opposition candidate against Lukashenko. This was unusual for a country like Belarus.
She joined forces with Veronika Tsepkalo and Maria Kalesnikava. Veronika's husband was another opposition candidate who had left the country. Maria was the campaign manager for another arrested candidate.
In 2020, Lukashenko was not very popular. People were unhappy with how he handled money problems and the COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus. Most other opposition candidates were removed from the election. Lukashenko allowed Sviatlana to run because he thought a woman would not be a threat. He even made fun of her for being a female candidate. But Sviatlana used this to her advantage. She said she was a mother, which made voters feel she was an ordinary person, not someone seeking power.
Sviatlana called herself an "accidental candidate." She said she would only be in office until Lukashenko's rule ended. Her main role was to be a face for the opposition movement. She said that "every day was full of fear" during the campaign.
Campaign Events and Threats
Even though she ran as an independent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya gained support from many different opposition groups. Her rallies were the biggest in Belarus since the Soviet Union ended. Crowds of 20,000 people gathered in Brest and 60,000 in Minsk.
Sviatlana had no political experience. She had to learn how to talk to the media. This made people like her even more, as they saw her as a regular citizen. Her open dislike of politics also made her relatable.
During the campaign, Tsikhanouskaya received many threats. She got phone calls saying, "We will put you behind bars and place your children in an orphanage." She decided to keep going, saying there "must be a symbol of freedom." To keep her children safe, she sent them to Lithuania.
Sviatlana said she ran for president out of love, to free her husband. She focused on three main promises:
- Release all political prisoners.
- Limit how long a president can serve.
- Hold new, fair elections.
She promised to step down once these things happened. She also wanted to move Belarus away from its close ties with Russia. She believed the election was unfair because many strong opponents of Lukashenko were not allowed to run.
Election Day and Leaving Belarus
The night before the election, police arrested some of Sviatlana's campaign staff. She went into hiding in Minsk but appeared at a polling station on election day. When the results were announced, the government said she only got ten percent of the vote. Many believed election workers were forced to cheat to make Lukashenko win. Protests broke out all over Belarus.
An election monitor group called Golos said Sviatlana was the real winner. After state TV showed Lukashenko winning by a lot, Sviatlana said, "I believe my eyes, and I see that the majority is with us."
The next day, Sviatlana and her lawyer went to the Central Election Commission. There, she was met by armed guards and forced to meet with a government official. She was told she had to leave the country or go to prison and have her children taken away. They described how bad prison would be and what would happen to her children. She tried to get her husband released in exchange for leaving, but they refused. However, she did manage to get her campaign manager, Maria Moroz, released.
Sviatlana and Maria prepared to leave for Lithuania. Sviatlana got her passport and her son's special hearing equipment. They even demanded that a government agent drive them to the border to ensure their safety.
Later, a video was released showing Sviatlana saying she accepted Lukashenko's victory and asking protesters to stop. Her supporters said the video was forced, like a hostage video, because her behavior and message were so different.
Life in Exile
Building an Opposition Government
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On 11 August 2020, Lithuania announced that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was safe in their country. She felt she had "betrayed" her supporters by leaving. But the same day, the Belarusian KGB claimed there was a plot to harm her, saying protesters needed a "sacred sacrifice."
Days after leaving, Tsikhanouskaya said she was the "leader of democratic Belarus." She started the Coordination Council to help with a peaceful transfer of power from Lukashenko. She sees herself as a temporary leader and does not plan to run for president again. Instead, she wants to continue her diplomatic work until fair elections can be held.
Tsikhanouskaya has asked other countries to recognize her as the true winner. She has traveled to many European capitals and met with world leaders. These include President Joe Biden, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and President Emmanuel Macron. Many Western countries and the European Parliament do not recognize Lukashenko's re-election. She also seeks to have other countries put pressure on Belarus.
On 9 August 2022, Tsikhanouskaya announced the creation of the United Transitional Cabinet. This group includes people responsible for different areas, like foreign affairs and defense. In January 2023, Belarus declared Tsikhanouskaya's groups to be extremist. Two months later, she was sentenced to fifteen years in prison by the Belarusian government, even though she was not in the country.
The European Parliament, the European Union, and the United States work with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's groups. Foreign leaders often call her the "Leader of Democratic Belarus" or "President-elect." Her Cabinet is sometimes called a "government in exile."
Stance on the Russo-Ukrainian War
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When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Tsikhanouskaya worked to promote an anti-war movement in Belarus. She believes that Lukashenko's support for the invasion is a betrayal of his country.
After Belarus became involved in the war, Tsikhanouskaya and her supporters created the Pieramoha Plan (Victory Plan). This plan involves secret groups in Belarus sharing information and working against the government. She says these groups are waiting for "the right moment" when the country is unstable enough for a change in power.
Tsikhanouskaya argues that the dictatorship in Belarus is a danger not just to Ukraine, but also to nearby countries like Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. This is because Russia has used Belarus to attack its neighbors. She supports continued help from Western countries for Ukraine and for Belarusian activists. She warns that people might get tired of the war, which could reduce support for Ukraine and for those fighting for freedom in Belarus.
Awards and Recognition
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has received many awards for her work. In 2020, she was named one of the BBC's 100 Women. She was also included in Bloomberg's "The Bloomberg 50" list.
She and other Belarusian opposition leaders won the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2020. This is a very important award from the European Parliament. She has also received the Globsec prize for freedom, the International Four Freedoms Award, and the Tipperary International Peace Award, among many others. In 2022, she and other Belarusian opposition leaders won the Charlemagne Prize.
In 2021, she was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by the President of Lithuania and several members of the Norwegian parliament.
See also
In Spanish: Svetlana Tijanóvskaya para niños
- 2020–2021 Belarusian protests
- Belarusian opposition
- New Belarus passport project
