Andrzej Poczobut Is Free

• 28.04.2026, 14:11

(updated) An exchange took place on the Polish-Belarusian border.

The leader of the Polish diaspora in Belarus, journalist Andrzej Poczobut is at large. He is in Poland. This was announced by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

According to Lukashenko's news agency BelTA, Belarus and Poland have conducted a five-for-five prisoner exchange at the border.

The Polish side handed over five citizens of the Russian Federation, Belarus and other CIS countries. Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, arrested at the request of Ukraine, former deputy director of Moldova's information and security service Alexander Balan, recruited by the KGB, and Russian Nina Popova were released. Belarus and Russia handed over to Poland a Carmelite monk Gzhegorz Havel, Andrzej Poczobut, and another unnamed Polish citizen. Two Moldovan citizens were also released.

Belarus' KGB thanked the Russian FSB for its assistance in this exchange.

It's worth noting that the day before, US Presidential Special Envoy John Cole arrived in Poland . He held meetings with the country's Foreign Minister Radoslav Sikorski and President Karol Nawrocki.

In February 2023, a court in Hrodna sentenced Andrzej Poczobut to 8 years in prison under articles on incitement to hatred (part 3 of article 130 of the Criminal Code) and calls for actions aimed at harming national security (article 361-3 of the Criminal Code).

Andrzej was placed several times in the penal colony in Novopolotsk. In detention, he lost a lot of weight and underwent surgery to remove skin ulcers. In October 2025, he received the Sakharov Prize in absentia; in November, he received Poland's highest honor, the Order of the White Eagle.

In 2024, Andrzej Poczobut became an honorary citizen of Warsaw.