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.

The political prisoner Vatslau Areshka has gone almost completely blind yet he is unable to gain disability status in prison

Gennady Fedynich (Hennadz Fiadynich in Belarusian transliteration), long-time leader of the independent Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP), was one of many Belarusian trade unionists imprisoned in the crackdown on free unions. Last week, he was unexpectedly taken from prison in Babruisk, transported under guard to Minsk, and then deported to Lithuania along with other 52 political prisoners.

On 17 September, an online meeting was held between recently released former political prisoner and leader of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), Aliaksandr Yarashuk, and ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo together with Maria Helena André, Director of the ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV). The meeting was also attended by Sergeyus Glovackas, Desk Officer for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at ACTRAV.

On 16 September in Vilnius, a three-hour meeting took place between recently released Belarusian trade union leaders — Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Chair of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), and Hennadz Fiadynich, former head of the Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP) — and the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Luc Triangle.

In their interview to “Salidarnast”, the two union leaders speak of what was most difficult for them in jail, why other prisoners would address by their patronymics, how they managed to survive punitive isolation cells, and why the Belarusian authorities have taken their passports away.

On 11 September, 52 political prisoners were released in Belarus. Among them were two key figures of the independent trade union movement: Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Chair of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), and Hennadz Fiadynich, former head of the Belarusian Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP).

The Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) submits a report to the UN Human Rights Council for the 50th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The document speaks of the complete liquidation of independent trade unions in Belarus, repression against more than 70 trade union activists and the systematic use of forced labour.