Belarus' opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya says regime change just a matter of time

What Vladimir Putin wants is not only the annexation of territories, but loyal regimes and the full 'Russification' of countries, says Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

She told Euronews that although the protest movement in her country was mostly forced underground, it also means people are preparing to rise up when the time is right.

Speaking about whether changes in Russia can have an influence on Belarus, Tsikhanouskaya thinks "something can happen in Russia and hence it will weaken Alexander Lukashenko and people will rise up again. It might be victory for Ukraine. It will weaken Putin and weaken Lukashenko."

"But changes in Russia can start from changes in Belarus as well," Tsikhanouskaya added, saying there are "more possibilities to change regime in Belarus, than in Russia."

"This constant repression that we have been going through for four, almost five years, already hasn't made people forgive or forget, or to deny their pro-European perspectives."

According to the Belarusian human rights center Vyasna, over 50,000 people have been detained on political grounds after mass protests broke out following Lukashenko's 2020 presidential election win and at least 5,472 people have been convicted in politically-motivated criminal cases.

The United Nations estimates that around 300,000 Belarusians have left the country since then, with most going to Poland and Lithuania.

Even today, between 15 and 20 people are being detained in Belarus every day, according to Tsikhanouskaya.

"He (Lukashenko) behaves as if he still has thousands of people standing in front of his palace," she says.

"This visible quietness of the country doesn't mean that people gave up. It means that people are preparing and they will be ready when there will be the possibility."