One of the most well-known Belarusian political prisoners, blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski, was released on June 21 following a visit to Belarus by Keith Kellogg, President Trump's special envoy for Ukraine.

Tsikhanouski gave his first big interview since being freed to DW's Alexandra Boguslawskaja, who had also interviewed him five years ago in Belarus, shortly before his arrest.

Tsikhanouski was detained in May 2020, after being denied registration as a presidential candidate challenging Alexander Lukashenko and later convicted to 18 years in prison. His wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, assumed the candidacy and ran for presidency in his stead. She was forced to flee Belarus after Lukashenko claimed victory in an election, which observers label as rigged. Tsikhaniuskaya has been living in Vilnius ever since and became the leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition in exile.

Deutsche Welle: The first footage we saw of you was of you getting off the bus and hugging your wife. What was it like to hug Svetlana after five years in prison?

Siarhei Tsikhanouski: I couldn't believe it. I spent five years in a solitary confinement cell, sometimes it was three square meters, sometimes six, and sometimes even 18. And then, when you finally see open space around you, you're overwhelmed by emotions. The doors of the bus opened and I saw Sviatlana. I couldn't believe it and had tears in my eyes. I hugged her and said, "Let's go somewhere.” We found a quiet spot to talk in private. Honestly, even now, I still can't believe it. The emotions were so intense, the tears just kept coming.

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