31 Ukrainian citizens returned from Belarus (UPD)

On Saturday, November 22, Ukraine returned 31 citizens who were being held in prisons in Belarus.

This was reported by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

These are civilians sentenced in Belarus to various terms of imprisonment — from two to 11 years. Among them are people with serious illnesses, including cancer.

The youngest released person is 18 years old, the oldest is 58.

"We express our gratitude to the United States and President Donald Trump for their fruitful work on the return of Ukrainian civilians and military personnel from the territory of Belarus and the Russian Federation," the Coordination Headquarters added.

Before that, the spokeswoman for the self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Natalya Eismont, stated that at the request of the Ukrainian side, her country had allegedly pardoned 31 Ukrainians.

According to her, this decision was made within the framework of agreements between Belarus and the United States "in order to create conditions for the resolution of the armed conflict" in Ukraine.

In addition, at the request of Pope Leo XIV, Lukashenko pardoned two Catholic priests, Andzi Yukhnevych and Henryk Khakalotowych. They were convicted of "committing grave and especially grave crimes against the state and other crimes."

• In July of this year, Lukashenko also pardoned 16 people convicted of various crimes, including "extremist" ones.
• In September, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus released 52 political prisoners from prison in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions on Belavia Airlines. In addition to Belarusians, they included citizens of Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Germany, France, and Britain.

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