Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is the exiled leader of the democratic opposition in Belarus. A Belarusian court sentenced her in absentia to 15 years in prison.

“I was my son’s current age when former Soviet bureaucrat Alexander Lukashenko came to power in Belarus with the help of Russia. He turned our country into a dictatorship and a Russian colony. Parliament was dismissed, political opponents disappeared and the independent media was destroyed. Elections became a hollow ritual, with no real counting of votes. The Belarusian language was pushed out of the public space.

In 2020, my husband decided to challenge Lukashenko for the presidency. He was arrested and eventually sentenced to 18 years in prison. To support him, I decided to run in his place. To the surprise of the dictator and his Russian masters, I won. We won. But the elections were stolen: Lukashenko falsely claimed he won 80 percent of the vote and retained his grip on power. Massive peaceful protests were cracked down. As many as 60,000 people were jailed. I was forced into exile in Lithuania, from where I continue to speak for the Belarusian people as the rightful president-elect”

Sviatlana Tikhanovskaja. Remember the name. An extremely courageous woman.

And this is the monster. Remember him.