On Thursday, February 19th, word was received of the final release by Belarusian authorities of oppositionist and one-time presidential candidate Mikalay Statkevich, following a stroke suffered while in prison.

Originally part of the release of 52 political prisoners on September 11, 2025, Statkevich was to have been deported to Lithuania. However, he refused to leave his homeland, and positioned himself in a no-man’s land on the Belarus-Lithuania border, where he was eventually re-arrested and returned to prison.

On January 21, 2026, while back in prison, he suffered a stroke, but was not released until last week. After spending 12 of the past 20 years as a political prisoner of the Lukashenko regime, he has at last been reunited with his family in Minsk. His wife, Marina Adamovich, posted on Facebook following his release:

“Dear friends! Mikalay is home! He had a stroke. He is now recovering. For now, he is having problems with speech. Otherwise, everything is fine. Everything will be OK.” [RFE/RL, February 19, 2026.]

In 2016, after nearly five years in prison, Statkevich told reporters:

“I am ready to sacrifice my freedom to bring my country closer to freedom. I am fighting for Belarus. I will continue this work as long as I am alive.” [Id.]

Whether he will follow through on that pledge when he has regained his health remains to be seen. But in the meantime, welcome home, and all best wishes for a speedy recovery, to Mikalay Statkevich.

*. *. *

And yet another weekly salute to those still being held hostage:

Victims of Greed:

The President, First Lady, and citizens of Venezuela

Europeans Under Threat:

The Nation and the People of Greenland
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 Afghanistan:

Dennis Coyle (American)

In Azerbaijan:

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

In Belarus:

Andrei Chapiuk
Uladzimir Labkovich
Andrzej Poczobut
Marfa Rabkova
Valiantsin Stafanovic
Yuras Zyankovich

In Georgia:

Mzia Amaglobeli

In Russia:

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

James Scott Rhys Anderson (British)
David Barnes (American)
Gordon Black (American)
Hayden Davies (British)
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)
Joseph Tater (American, disappeared)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland (American)

You have not been, and will not be, forgotten.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/22/26