Ideally, a release of political prisoners can be effected by means of a people-for-people swap, such as the historic multi-national exchange that took place with Russia in August of 2024. But that’s not always possible, when one side holds all the hostages.

So Friday’s release of 123 political prisoners by the government of Belarus was made possible by the U.S. government’s lifting of sanctions on Belarusian exports of potash — a vital component in the production of fertilizer, but also used in the making of some explosives.

And while no decent person wants to see a tyrant such as Belarusian presumptive president Aleksandr Lukashenko rewarded for his crimes, the lives of the hostages remains paramount, and their return is cause for celebration . . . especially in this holiday season.

Included among those freed were 2020 protest leader Maryya Kalesnikava, Nobel laureate Ales Byalyatski — both of whom have been on our list of hostages for some time, and can now be removed. A happy day indeed!

Also released were one as-yet-unnamed American and citizens of several other countries. All have safely left Belarus; 114 are in Ukraine, and the other nine are reported to have been sent to Lithuania. [RFE/RL, December 13, 2025.]

While we celebrate their release, we continue to maintain the vigil on behalf of the thousands remaining in prisons in Russia, Belarus, Georgia, China, Azerbaijan, and anywhere else that political hostages are being held.

And once more, here are the names of those known to me:

*. *. *

Europeans Under Threat:

The people of NATO and EU member states

Prisoners of War:

The 19,500 Kidnapped Ukrainian Children
The People of Ukraine

Immigrant Detainees in Russia:

Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Endangered Exiles:

Mikita Losik
Yulia Navalnaya
Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents

Political Prisoners:

In Azerbaijan:

The “Azerbaijan 7”:
— Farid Mehralizada
— Ulvi Hasanli
— Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqiai)
— Mahammad Kekalov
— Hafiz Babali
— Nargiz Absalamova
— Elnara Gasimova

In Belarus:

Ales Bialiatski
Andrei Chapiuk
Marya Kalesnikava
Uladzimir Labkovich
Andrzej Poczobut
Marfa Rabkova
Valiantsin Stafanovic
Yuras Zyankovich

In Georgia:

Mzia Amaglobeli

In China:

Chenyue Mao (American)

In Russia:The “Crimea 8”:
— Oleg Antipov
— Artyom Azatyan
— Georgy Azatyan
— Aleksandr Bylin
— Roman Solomko
— Artur Terchanyan
— Dmitry Tyazhelykh
— Vladimir Zloba

David Barnes (American)
Gordon Black (American)
Antonina Favorskaya
Konstantin Gabov
Robert Gilman (American)
Stephen James Hubbard (American)
Sergey Karelin
Timur Kishukov
Vadim Kobzev
Darya Kozyreva
Artyom Kriger
Michael Travis Leake (American)
Aleksei Liptser
Grigory Melkonyants
Nika Novak
Leonid Pshenychnov (in Russian-occupied Crimea)
Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler)
Sofiane Sehili (French)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Grigory Skvortsov
Eugene Spector (American)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland (American)

*. *. *

May the coming New Year bring all of you, and more, safely home.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/14/25