On 18 March, the International Day of Political Prisoners (also observed as a Day of Support and Solidarity with Political Prisoners), Bremen will host a solidarity action to draw attention to people worldwide who have been deprived of their liberty for political reasons.

A new case of criminal prosecution against a trade union activist has been reported. Ruslan Badamshyn, an activist of the Free Trade Union of Belarus (SPB) and a member of the "Panacea" union of healthcare workers, has been recognised as a political prisoner and sentenced to two years and six months of imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony.

In an interview with ACTRAV INFO on trade union resilience amid growing global instability, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General Secretary Luc Triangle highlighted the release of Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Chair of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), as one of the most significant achievements of the international trade union movement in 2025.

On 11 February 2026, a meeting took place in Warsaw between Piotr Duda, chairman of the Polish trade union NSZZ “Solidarność,” his deputies, and the leaders of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), which has continued its work in exile since the liquidation of independent trade unions in Belarus in 2022.

The Salidarnast Association held an international conference “Belarus: Trade Union Actions under Article 33” in Bremen, Germany.

On 30–31 January, Bremen hosted an international trade union conference, held there for the fourth time and traditionally bringing together friends and allies of the independent Belarusian trade unions. This year, the event gathered trade union leaders and representatives of international and national unions from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.

In his interview to gazetaby.com, Maksim Senik, an activist of the Belarusian Independent Union (BNP) at the Hrodna Azot fertilizer plant tells what a man who dares to express his own point of view and speak against unjust actions of the authorities has to go through in today‘s Belarus.

Maryna Zolatava, editor-in-Chief of TUT.BY, was released from prison on 13 December 2025. On 11 January 2026, she published her first Facebook post since her release, sharing memories of the women she was imprisoned with. Among them were representatives of the independent labour movement.

Today in Vilnius, a meeting took place between IndustriALL Global Union General Secretary Atle Høie and and Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan with Belarusian trade union leaders – Henadz Fiadynich, longtime head of the Belarusian Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP), which is part of IndustriALL, and Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP).

Yesterday, when new information and footage appeared showing Ukrainian buses, I caught myself experiencing a strange clarity. Perhaps, for the first time since the first similar release of political prisoners, everything seemed to fall into place.

Today, December 13, it was announced that 123 political prisoners were released in Belarus. Among those released are Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, former banker Viktar Babaryka, Maryia Kalesnikava, Maksim Znak, Pavel Seviarynets, TUT.BY editor-in-chief Marina Zolatava, political scientist Alexander Feduta, human rights activist Uladzimir Labkovich, Alena Hnauk, and others.

On December 10, International Human Rights Day, Volha Brytsikava, former leader of the primary organization of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union at OJSC Naftan, received the Human Rights Solidarity Award. The Belarusian Human Rights Association presented the award to her for her steadfastness, principles, and ongoing defense of workers' rights despite pressure and repression.

A session of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Governing Body concluded its work in Geneva; the GB discussed the situation in Belarus, among other things.

On the Day of Political Prisoners, which is marked annually on October 30, member of the German Bundestag Helge Limburg once again addressed a letter to his political godson – Andrei Paheryla, a repairman at JSC “Grodno Azot” and member of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union, imprisoned in the “Rabochy Rukh” case.

Michelle O’Neil, President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), met with the leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, during her visit to Australia. She shared news of the meeting on her Instagram page, describing Tsikhanouskaya as “an inspiring and fearless voice for a free and democratic Belarus.”

Today, Volha Brytsikava, head of the work council of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union of JSK "Naftan" (largest and most important oil refineries in Belarus), is spending her birthday in captivity.

Former chairman of the independent Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP), Hennadz Fiadynich, was released from Babruysk Penal Colony No. 2 a month and a half ago. He, along with other political prisoners, was taken to Lithuania. In a conversation with Radio Free Europe, he says that he "still doesn't feel much joy," as he has many concerns.

Aliaksandr Yarashuk, head of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), shared his experience of being held in Belarusian prisons.

The name of Volha Brytsikava, the former union leader of the BNP workplace affiliate at the Naftan oil refinery, has become a symbol of fortitude and human dignity. Convicted on trumped-up charges and listed as a “terrorist”, she remains unbroken even behind the barbed wire.

On September 19, 2025, Amsterdam saw the International Solidarity Festival organized by the Netherland’s largest trade union, the FNV. The event brought together union activists from over 15 countries, including Surinam, India, Uganda, the USA, Kenya, Columbia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Belarus.