CNN
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An American detained in Belarus has been freed, Special Envoy for Hostage Recovery Adam Boehler and a second US official told CNN on Wednesday.
Youras Ziankovich was arrested in Moscow in 2021 and then was brought to Belarus’s capital Minsk, where he was accused of being part of a US-backed coup plot against Belarus’ strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko. The US State Department denied any such involvement.
Ziankovich had been declared wrongfully detained in February 2025. There was not a prisoner swap that led to his release, Boehler and the unnamed official said.
“No exchange,” Boehler told CNN Wednesday. “It really was an open mindedness to have a discussion, but I think it’s real hard for us to have discussions when people are holding Americans.”
Belarus – which has been isolated from the West – is interested in “trying to warm relations with the United States,” and “they know that President Trump is not going to do anything if they’re holding Americans.”
“We’ve made that clear” across the interagency, Boehler said.
Following his release from Belarusian detention, Ziankovich was turned over at the border with neighboring Lithuania to a team of US officials. He is expected to arrive back on US soil on Thursday, Boehler said.
Boehler said he had not yet spoken with Ziankovich, but said, “physically, it looks like he’s in good shape.”
“He’s quite happy to be in American hands,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the news on Wednesday, without naming Ziankovich.
“Thanks to @POTUS’s leadership, Belarus has released another wrongfully detained U.S. citizen. No president has done so much, so quickly, to keep Americans safe abroad,” Rubio posted on X.
According to Global Reach, an organization that advocated for his case, Ziankovich did not have access to State Department personnel until January 2025.
“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,” his wife Alena Dzenisavets said. “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.”
Ziankovich is not the first American to have been released from Belarus under the Trump administration.
Anastassia Nuhfer was released in January after being detained in December 2024. An unnamed American citizen, who was detained in September 2024, was released in mid-February. Two other political prisoners were also released at the time.
Ziankovich’s release comes a day after a second group of 10 Americans were released from detention in Kuwait in a goodwill gesture from the US ally. Boehler said the group would be back on US soil on Wednesday.
This story has been updated with additional details.
