Sviatlana Hieorhiyeuna Tsikhanouskaya[a] (née Pilipchuk;[b] born 11 September 1982) is a Belarusian political activist.

He was arrested, along with most other opposition leaders, and, as she was unable to file for the presidency on his behalf, Tsikhanouskaya entered herself into the race as a candidate.

She ran on a platform of constitutional reform, seeking free and fair elections with term limits on the presidency, and she pledged to step down once this was implemented.

As a representative of a democratic Belarus, Tsikhanouskaya has met with several world leaders in a diplomatic capacity to negotiate sanctions against Lukashenko's government and to deny him recognition as a legitimate head of state.

Sviatlana Pilipchuk was born on 11 September 1982, in the village of Mikashevichy,[1] to Hieorhij Ivanavič and Valancina Mikałajeuna Pilipčuk.

When she was twelve years old, she was taken to Roscrea, Ireland, by the Chernobyl Lifeline charity, which helped children travel so as to reduce their exposure to radiation.

[3] In 2019, Tsikhanouskaya's husband Tsikhanouski started a YouTube channel, "A Country for Life", in which he interviewed people and challenged the rule of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.

He moved to challenge Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, and he was subsequently arrested for his protest activity days before the filing deadline.

She easily acquired the 100,000 signatures that were needed to run—a high limit that was expected to block opposition candidates from running.

[1][8]: 119  Tsikhanouskaya leaned into the feminine aspects of her candidacy, emphasizing that she was a mother, and her gender may have indicated to voters that she was less likely to seek power for herself.

[11][12] She also received support from 2010 presidential candidate Mikola Statkevich,[12] and president of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, Ivonka Survilla.

[8]: 124  Rallies in support of Tsikhanouskaya and in opposition to Lukashenko were the largest in the history of post-Soviet Belarus, attracting crowds of 20,000 in Brest and 220,000 in Minsk.

She viewed the election as illegitimate due to the government's refusal to register Lukashenko's main political opponents as candidates.

[21] Tsikhanouskaya's economic platform emphasized increasing the importance of small and medium-sized businesses in the Belarusian economy.

She planned to offer interest free loans to small and medium-sized businesses, cancel state inspections of private entities, and provide legal protection for foreign investors.

Poll workers were required to engage in electoral fraud to ensure Lukashenko's victory over Tsikhanouskaya,[8]: 125  and protests took place across Belarus in response.

[25][26] On 11 August 2020, Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius announced that Tsikhanouskaya was safe in Lithuania while also acknowledging that she had "few options".

[3] The same day, the State Security Committee of Belarus (KGB) alleged that an attempt was being made on Tsikhanouskaya's life, saying that the protesters needed a "sacred sacrifice".

Tsikhanouskaya has denied that she leads a government in exile, saying that she wished to create a "permanent opposition inside Belarus".

[35] Belarus declared Tsikhanouskaya's organizations to be extremist formations in January 2023, making her subject to prison time should she be captured by the Belarusian government.

[37] European Parliament and a number of governments recognize Tsikhanouskaya and her structures as legitimate representative of the Republic of Belarus.

"[39][40][41] The Council of Europe, the European Union and the United States of America have established the formal cooperation with the structures of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

[42][43][44] When the Russian invasion of Ukraine took place in 2022, Tsikhanouskaya sought to promote the anti-war movement in Belarus.

[8]: 125  She has objected to the international framing of Belarus as merely a vassal state of Russia, alleging that it downplays the severity of Lukashenko's rule.

[48] Tsikhanouskaya and other Belarusian opposition leaders were awarded the European Parliament's 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in a ceremony on 16 December in Brussels.

[51] In 2021, she was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda and multiple Norwegian members of parliament.