Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Sviatlana Hieorhiyeuna Tsikhanouskaya (Pilipchuk; born 11 September 1982) is a Belarusian political activist.

Sviatlana Pilipchuk was born on 11 September 1982 in the village of Mikashevichy to Hieorhij Ivanavič and Valancina Mikałajeuna Pilipčuk.

Her father was a driver at a concrete factory, and her mother was a cafeteria cook.

She grew up in a Soviet prefabricated apartment building, where she spent much of her time reading.

Among her books were some from the United States, which she read to learn English and learn about the world outside of Belarus.

Pilipchuk's village was near the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

When she was twelve years old, she was taken to Roscrea, Ireland, by the Chernobyl Lifeline charity, which helped children travel so as to reduce their exposure to radiation.

Though Pilipchuk was not as affected by radiation as other students, her proficiency in school earned her a spot.

While staying in Ireland, she would translate for the other children.

Pilipchuk lived with a host family, the Deanes, who effectively became second parents to her.

She returned over the following three summers, and she felt that Ireland was a more cheerful place than Belarus.

Even after she stopped visiting Ireland, she has stayed in contact with the Deanes in adulthood.

Pilipchuk attended Mozyr State Pedagogical University to study teaching.

While she was in Mazyr, she met nightclub owner Syarhei Tsikhanouski in 2003.

They married in 2004, and she took the name Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

Together they had two children: a son and a daughter, about five years apart.

Her son was born mostly deaf, and much of her time went to assisting him.

She moved from Minsk to Gomel where he could receive treatment, including a cochlear implant.

In 2019, Tsikhanouskaya's husband Tsikhanouski started a YouTube channel, "A Country for Life", in which he interviewed people and challenged the rule of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.

He became a prominent opposition leader through his YouTube and Telegram presence, as well as his organization of political protests.

After standing as a candidate in the 2020 presidential election against the president Alexander Lukashenko, she has led the political opposition to his authoritarian rule through an oppositional government operating from Lithuania and Poland.

Tsikhanouskaya became an opposition leader after her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, ran as a presidential candidate in the 2020 presidential election.

He was arrested, along with most other opposition leaders, and, as she was unable to file for the presidency on his behalf, Tsikhanouskaya entered herself into the race as a candidate.

Lukashenko allowed her candidacy because he believed that a woman could not form legitimate opposition.

She ran on a platform of constitutional reform, seeking free and fair elections with term limits on the presidency, and she pledged to step down once this was implemented.

After Lukashenko was declared the victor, she was held by Belarusian authorities and then forced into exile in Lithuania.

Election observers consider the election fraudulent, and Lithuania has recognized Tsikhanouskaya as the legitimate head of state of Belarus.

Since fleeing to Lithuania, Tsikhanouskaya has established an oppositional government.

She established the Coordination Council in 2020 and the United Transitional Cabinet in 2022.

As a representative of a democratic Belarus, Tsikhanouskaya has met with several world leaders in a diplomatic capacity to negotiate sanctions against Lukashenko's government and to deny him recognition as a legitimate head of state.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she has been an advocate of increased Western support for Ukraine, while also warning that Russia's actions should not overshadow opposition to the dictatorship in Belarus.

Tsikhanouskaya was tried in absentia by the Belarusian government in 2023 and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Until 2020, Tsikhanouskaya was an English teacher and interpreter.

She retired so she had more time to raise her children.

She pulled her children out of school when the COVID-19 pandemic developed, as the government had not taken any prevention measures.

He moved to challenge Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, and he was subsequently arrested for his protest activity days before the filing deadline.

Tsikhanouskaya attempted to file for her husband by proxy but was rejected.

In response, she filed for her own candidacy.

She later said that she did this solely as a show of support for her husband.

Tsikhanouskaya registered as an Independent candidate on 14 July 2020.