Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is the National Leader of Belarus, the Head of the United Transition Cabinet, and the President-elect of Belarus, who independent observers agree won the presidential election on August 9, 2020, against the long-lasting dictator Aliaksandr Lukashenka. After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, Tsikhanouskaya reformatted the movement’s leadership by creating and chairing the United Transition Cabinet, the movement’s decision-making centre. Belarusian anti-war activists led by Tsikhanouskaya conducted underground resistance in Belarus by sabotaging the railway transportation of Russian troops as well as volunteering for Belarusian-staffed units fighting for Ukraine. Among dozens of distinctions, she is a recipient of the Sakharov Prize awarded by the European Parliament, the 2022 International Four Freedoms Award, and the Charlemagne Prize. In 2021 and 2022, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Members of the Norwegian Parliament, respectively.