American Wrongfully Detained in Belarus Freed, Rubio Confirms

Secretary of State confirmed the release, praising Trump’s efforts to bring detained Americans back home.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio addresses the audience during a final press conference as part of the meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs at NATO's headquarters in Brussels on April 4, 2025. Jacquelyn Martin/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

An American detained in Belarus has been freed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Wednesday, marking a rare diplomatic breakthrough between Washington and Minsk amid ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to repatriate Americans wrongfully imprisoned abroad.

“No president has done so much, so quickly, to keep Americans safe abroad,” Rubio wrote in an April 30 post on social media platform X.

While Rubio did not identify the individual by name, his wife confirmed to media outlets that the person released is Youras Ziankovich, a naturalized U.S. citizen and pro-democracy advocate who had been imprisoned in Belarus since 2021.

“I knew this day would come. It took 1,480 days, but he survived and is on his way home to me and to America,” Ziankovich’s wife, Alena Dzenisavets, told CNN. “I want to thank President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and Special Envoy Boehler and the SPEHA staff. I also want to express my appreciation to Rep. Morgan Luttrell and the nonprofits Global Reach and the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation for their help advocating for Youras.”

Abducted in Moscow by Belarusian security agents in April 2021, Ziankovich was transported over 400 miles to Minsk. He was later sentenced to 11 years in a medium-security penal colony following a closed-door trial widely denounced as politically motivated. According to the Viasna Human Rights Center, he was convicted on charges including conspiracy to seize state power and creating an extremist organization.

Ziankovich’s case drew growing concern from U.S. officials and human rights groups, who labeled his detention wrongful. According to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, the Belarus-born lawyer and longtime democracy advocate had traveled to Moscow for meetings when he was ambushed outside his hotel, hooded, and forcibly returned to Belarus. His family and rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about his declining health in prison.

As of publication, the State Department had not responded to a request for comment from The Epoch Times on whether Ziankovich was the individual referenced by Rubio, or whether his release came as part of a negotiated exchange or a unilateral decision by the Belarusian government.

The development appears to be part of a broader diplomatic push by President Donald Trump and members of his administration to secure the return of multiple detainees held in Belarus.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Feb. 12 that three individuals—including one U.S. citizen—had been freed from Belarus as a result of Trump’s direct engagement. She described the outcome as a “remarkable victory” and a testament to Trump’s “deal-making ability.”

Two of the individuals released, including the U.S. citizen, requested their identities be withheld to protect their privacy. The third freed detainee was Andrey Kuznechyk, a journalist for Radio Liberty who was sentenced in 2022 to six years in prison after a one-day trial on charges of creating an “extremist” organization. The outlet’s president, Stephen Capus, praised the release and thanked the Trump team and Rubio for their efforts.

The detentions and recent releases come amid strained United States–Belarus relations following President Aleksander Lukashenko’s disputed 2020 re-election and his government’s subsequent crackdown on opposition figures.