Washington D.C. – CNN, April 30, 2025
An American detained in Belarus has been freed, a US official told CNN on Wednesday.
Youras Ziankovich was arrested in Moscow in 2021 and then was brought to Belarus’s capital Minsk, where he was accused of being part of a US-backed coup plot against Belarus’ strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko. The US State Department denied any such involvement.
There was not a prisoner swap that led to Ziankovich’s release, the official said. He was declared wrongfully detained in February 2025.
Following his release from Belarusian detention, Ziankovich was brought to neighboring Lithuania by a team of US officials, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Chris Smith, the official told CNN. Smith has been involved in past releases of Americans from Belarus.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the news later on Wednesday, without naming Ziankovich.
