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WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Three detainees have been released from detention in Belarus, including one American, the White House said on Wednesday, without naming those released.
“We can confirm the safe release of one American and two individuals from Belarus,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
The State Department and the Russian and Belarusian embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The release comes after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that Belarus had “unilaterally released an innocent American”, whom he named as Anastassia Nuhfer. He gave no further details about the case, which had not previously been made public.
A person familiar with efforts to bring home American detainees held abroad said another American remains imprisoned in Belarus. The source said Youras Ziankovich, a 47-year-old naturalized American who lives in Texas, was arrested in April 2021 while having lunch in Moscow and had not been released on Wednesday.
Ziankovich was hooded, handcuffed and driven to Belarus, where he was tried in secret and sent to prison for allegedly plotting a coup, the source said, adding that he was allowed his first visit from Lithuania-based U.S. diplomats on January 5.
The release of detainees from Belarus comes after American schoolteacher Marc Fogel was released by Russia after 3-1/2 years in prison.
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