Katerina Andreeva: Intuition Told Me That "something Must Happen"

• 22.03.2026, 15:11

The journalist and ex-political prisoner gave her first interview in freedom.

Belsat journalist and former political prisoner Katerina Andreeva gave her first interview to the program "Ranitsa z Belsatam" after her release. According to her, the expectation of release existed from the first day of detention.

- Access to information was limited, as we mainly received information from state TV channels. But we saw that people were being released directly from the colony. So the main source was our personal experience.

- It was very emotional every time and of course there was hope. But for all that, there wasn't a full understanding of why it was happening and how it was happening. We just saw people coming out. It was very touching and there was hope that maybe next time [we would be released].

Hope for freedom was there from the first day of detention. Every day my girls and I were waiting to be released, because it shouldn't be like this. People should be free. We waited all the time, of course, but when the negotiation process and the visits of Mr. Cole and the American delegation began, which each time ended with the release of political prisoners, then hope began to grow stronger.

Ekaterina says that the day of release - March 19 - began as an ordinary day, but her intuition told her that "something must happen".

- Until the very last moment we did not know that we would be released. We didn't know which country we were being taken to: whether it would be Lithuania or, like last time, Ukraine. We traveled in two minibuses. Women and men together.

We were traveling with Marfa Rabkova and Nasta Loiko. When I saw them entering the bus, dressed in their usual clothes, I realized that it was a liberation.

Katerina considers it a victory that this time some political prisoners were allowed to stay in Belarus.

- Even we, those whom Belarus did not consider it possible to see, welcome this step and rejoice for the people who were released and stayed in Belarus. Some of them I know personally, I sat together. Now I have such a circle of acquaintances, but they are worthy, wonderful people. They deserve to stay in their homeland.

The journalist points out that, for example, she had no choice to leave or stay. Otherwise, she would have wanted to stay in Belarus.

- All my family is in Belarus, my husband Igor Ilyash, a journalist who was imprisoned, is now also in Belarus, in Babruisk colony No. 2. If I had been left with a choice, I would have stayed in Belarus, I would have gone to see him, brought him packages and been by his side as he was with me all four years until he was detained.

Katerina admits that during her imprisonment she suffered many losses and her family suffered a lot.

- If I could have made these losses smaller or spared them, I would have done it differently. As far as my journalistic endeavors and work are concerned, I would naturally stay true to myself and my profession. I am first of all a journalist and secondly a human being and just a weak woman who would like to live in comfort. So it happened, and I am happy that I was able to overcome this ordeal, to preserve myself more or less. And now my main goal is to reunite with my husband.

The last time Katerina and Igor saw each other was during a short visit in Gomel colony in July 2024. The journalist says she kept insisting that he leave.

- I asked him simply as a wife, not as a colleague. I just asked him to keep himself for me, for the future, for the children we dream of. I really wanted him to leave, to just think about himself and his own safety. But he said: "If you ask me again, I'll take great offense." And he insisted on staying in Belarus as a matter of principle.

Katerina was surprised by the new technologies at liberty.

- First of all, I didn't even know how to hold a telephone, and we were given telephones immediately upon arrival in Vilna and taught how to use them on a basic level. It was such an unfamiliar gesture for me to start flipping through the feed. I haven't recovered my social networks yet, but from what I have recovered, basic messengers, it's still difficult to use.

I feel so disoriented spatially, and on the phone in general. I've seen videos with artificial intelligence, and it's a miracle for me. I feel like a dinosaur or an alien who fell from the Moon to Earth and is learning to walk again.

Katerina Andreeva was imprisoned since November 15, 2020. In February 2021, she, along with Darya Chultsova, was sentenced to 2 years in prison for streaming from a protest in memory of slain protester Roman Bondarenko from "Change Square" in Minsk. In 2022, Yekaterina was again sentenced to 8 years in prison for allegedly "giving away state secrets of the Republic of Belarus to a foreign state, international or foreign organization or their representative". The journalist was taken out of Belarus on March 19 after the next talks between Lukashenka and Donald Trump's special envoy for Belarus John Cole.