Editor's note: The interview has been edited for clarity. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Despite receiving popular support during the 2020 elections, the Belarusian opposition leader was kicked out of her country, her supporters were jailed en masse, while the country she wanted to

Despite receiving popular support during the 2020 elections, the Belarusian opposition leader was kicked out of her country, her supporters were jailed en masse, while the country she wanted to lead is now entangled in Russia’s war against Ukraine on Moscow’s side.

. . .

And despite Tsikhanouskaya’s vast effort to lead her country’s opposition and gain the support of the international community, her team has little to no sway over her country’s policy, where dictator Lukashenko continues to call the shots.

. . .

“We can support the Ukrainian army, and our Belarusian volunteers are fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukrainians,” Tsikhanouskaya told the Kyiv Independent.

“The fate of Belarus and Ukraine are interconnected, and we can’t solve one issue without another,” she added.

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