When Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko used the full force of his security apparatus to crush mass demonstrations in 2020, Maria Kolesnikova became an icon of the protest movement, Reuters reports today.
Masked security forces abducted her from the street on September 7 of that year, stuffed her into a van, drove her to the Ukrainian border, and threatened to deport her "alive or in pieces."
To thwart the deportation attempt, she tore her passport into small pieces. Later, at her trial, she smiled and danced in a cage in the courtroom. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges that included conspiracy to seize power, and was later placed on a list of "persons involved in terrorist activities."
Kolesnikova and 122 other people were released today after negotiations between Lukashenko and John Cole, US President Donald Trump's special envoy, the United States Embassy in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, announced.
The flautist who became a politician
Kolesnikova, now 43, was a flautist and spent 12 years living in Germany before, in what she said was an unexpected and unlikely way into politics.
She was one of three women – all political novices – who joined forces to lead a campaign against Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, after more prominent male candidates were barred from running.
The other two were Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Veronika Cepkalo, who stood in for their more famous husbands. Kolesnikova had previously worked on the campaign of Viktor Babarik, a banker who ended up in prison. The women agreed to unite behind Tikhanovskaya as a joint candidate.
A photo of all three – Tikhanovskaya with a clenched fist, Kolesnikova making a heart sign with her hands, and Tsepkalo making a "V" for victory – quickly went viral. Tens of thousands of people gathered ahead of the vote, catching the authorities off guard.
In her first political speech since Babarik's arrest, Kolesnikova seemed hesitant and lost in her words. But she quickly gained confidence and became a fiery speaker. During the campaign, she told Reuters that she sometimes wore dark glasses to hide her tears when she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from her constituents.
Lukashenko declared victory in the election, but Tikhanovskaya accused the authorities of rigging the vote and stealing the victory from her. Western governments supported these claims, and the European Union and the United States (US) said they did not recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate leader of Belarus.
Mass pro-democracy protests broke out, and thousands of people were arrested. Tikhanovskaya, Tsepkalo, and other opposition leaders went into exile, but Kolesnikova decided to stay.
After her arrest, protesters took to the streets chanting her name and holding banners, some of which read "Viva Maria."
"Belarusian police officers, sitting by the fire in the evening, scare each other with stories about Maria Kolesnikova," was one joke that circulated, alluding to her defiance.
Kolesnikova spent most of her five years and three months in prison in complete isolation, without contact with her family or lawyers. In 2022, she underwent surgery for a stomach ulcer and peritonitis.
According to information obtained by her family and supporters through prison sources, she spent long periods alone in a small, smelly cell, where the toilet was a hole in the floor. They were also told that letters addressed to her were torn up by prison guards in front of her eyes.
Her sister, Tatyana Khomich, told Reuters in 2024 that the conditions in which Kolesnikova was held amounted to torture and that the family feared for her life. She said her sister had lost weight drastically because she could not tolerate most of the prison food due to an ulcer.
In November of that year, Kolesnikova was granted permission to briefly visit her father, and photographs were published that appeared to show her in the prison hospital.
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