Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

On 26 February 2022, in response to Belarus' participation in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tsikhanouskaya posted a tweet stating "…I declared myself as the national leader of Belarus to protect the sovereignty & independence of our country, represent it in security negotiations & crisis management in the region", and mentioned that she "will create a transitional cabinet", after claiming that "Belarus has lost its independence" and alleged President Lukashenko "committed high treason" in the video in the tweet.

On 2 March 2022 Tsihanouskaya announced an anti-war mobilisation and posted a manifesto of the anti-war movement calling Belarusians to oppose Russian invasion in Ukraine and imploring Belarusian soldiers to refuse to participate in the war.

On 11 March 2022 Tsikhanouskaya endorsed the creation of the Belarusian volunteer battalion fighting in Ukraine Kastuś Kalinoŭski Battalion, she noted that "more and more people from Belarus join to help Ukrainians defend their country".

On 9 August 2022 at a conference held in Vilnius, Tsikhanouskaya announced the creation of the United Transitional Cabinet. It initially consisted of Pavel Latushko (responsible for the transition of power), Aliaksandr Azarau, (responsible for the restoration of law and order), Valery Kavaleuski, (foreign affairs), and Valery Sakhashchyk (defense and national security). In September 2022, Tatsiana Zaretskaya for finance and economy and Alina Koushyk for "national revival" (culture and education) were added to the Cabinet.

The Polish government allotted a residence for Tsikhanouskaya and other members of the Belarusian opposition in the Praga-Południe district of Warsaw. She opened the residence along with the Belarusian House in Warsaw during a visit to Warsaw a couple days later where she met with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Her fellow opposition activist Valery Tsepkalo has also moved to Poland from Ukraine. On 20 July 2021, Tsikhanouskaya said that she had asked officials of the US Biden administration to impose further sanctions on Belarusian companies of potash, oil, wood and steel sectors, during a visit to Washington, D.C.

The Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya continues its work in exile and as of March 2021 consists of:

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was the first speaker at the Helmut Schmidt Lecture of the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung on 10 November 2021, which took place under the title "Living Democracy!" and in cooperation with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin.

Until 2020 Tsikhanouskaya was an English teacher and interpreter. She is married to YouTuber, blogger, and pro-democracy activist Sergei Tikhanovsky, who was arrested in May 2020. The couple have a son and a daughter.

After her husband's arrest on 29 May, Tsikhanouskaya announced her intention to run in his place. She registered as an Independent candidate on 14 July 2020. After registering, she was endorsed by the campaigns of Valery Tsepkalo and Viktar Babaryka, two prominent opposition politicians who were barred from registering, with one being arrested and the other fleeing the country. During the presidential campaign a photo of Tsikhanouskaya with Maria Kolesnikova (Babaryka's campaign chief), and Veronika Tsepkalo (Valery Tsepkalo's wife), became a symbol of her campaign.

On 11 August 2020 Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius announced that Tsikhanouskaya was "safe" in Lithuania while also acknowledging that she had "few options". Also on 11 August, the State Security Committee of Belarus announced that an attempt was being made on Tsikhanouskaya's life, saying that the protesters needed a "sacred sacrifice". Later that night, state television released a video message from Tsikhanouskaya in which she seemingly conceded defeat and urged the end of protests. However, the stark change in demeanor and message led allies to claim that the video had been coerced, with some going as far as to liken it to a hostage video.

On 14 August 2020 Tsikhanouskaya released a video in which she claimed to have defeated Lukashenko in the first round by a decisive margin, with as little as 60% of the vote and as much as 70%. She appealed to the international community to recognise her as the winner. Tsikhanouskaya also announced the establishment of a Coordination Council to handle the transfer of power from Lukashenko. Applications for membership in the council were open to any Belarusian citizen who recognised the election as having been falsified, and who was trusted by a social group by being an authoritative figure such as a doctor, a teacher, a business leader, an author or a sportsperson.

On 17 August 2020 Tsikhanouskaya released a video where she stated that she was ready to head a transitional government and organise a new, free and fair presidential election.

On 20 August 2020 Lithuanian prime minister Saulius Skvernelis invited Tsikhanouskaya to his office and publicly referred to her as "the national leader of Belarus". On 31 August, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was invited to address the United Nations Security Council.

On 8 September 2020 Tsikhanouskaya addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. She called for sanctions against Lukashenko, and "stated that Lukashenko doesn't have any legitimacy after stealing the vote, warning other countries against making any deals with the Belarussian government", and said that "He does not represent Belarus any more."

On 9 September 2020 Tsikhanouskaya said that the Belarusian opposition wants to have good relations with all nations, including Russia: "We cannot turn away from Russia because it will always be our neighbor, and we need to have good relations with them."

On 10 September 2020 a law was passed by the Lithuanian Parliament which recognises Tsikhanouskaya as the "elected leader of the people of Belarus" and the Coordination Council as the "only legitimate representatives of the Belarusian people". The resolution also declares that Lukashenko is an "illegitimate leader".

On 17 September 2020, the European Parliament recognised the coordination council as the "interim representation of the people demanding democratic change" in Belarus. On the same day, she released a black list of OMON officers, dubbed "Taraikovsky's List" after Alexander Taraikovsky who was killed by the OMON.

Tsikhanouskaya was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women announced on 23 November 2020. and was included in the 2020 edition of The Bloomberg 50.

Tsikhanouskaya and other Belarus leaders of the country's democratic opposition were awarded the European Parliament's 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in a ceremony on December 16 in Brussels. In 2021, she was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda and multiple Norwegian members of parliament. She and other Belarus leaders of the country's democratic opposition won the 2022 Charlemagne Prize.

Though running as an independent candidate, Tsikhanouskaya attracted support from across the spectrum of Belarus's political opposition. Vital Rymašeŭski, co-leader of Belarusian Christian Democracy, announced his party's support, as did the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly), United Civic Party of Belarus and Belarusian Women's Party "Nadzieja". She also received support from 2010 presidential candidate Mikola Statkevich. Ivonka Survilla, president of the Rada of the Belarusian People's Republic expressed her support for Tsikhanouskaya.

Tsikhanouskaya said that she ran for president out of love, to free her husband from prison. She has vowed to free all political prisoners in Belarus, to introduce democratic reforms to the country, and to move away from the union treaty with Russia, which many Belarusian opposition activists view as an infringement on the country's sovereignty. She has also pledged to set a referendum on returning to the original draft of the 1994 Belarusian constitution, reinstating a limit of two terms for the president. She has said that her main goal is to establish free and fair elections. She views the current election as illegitimate due to the government's refusal to register Lukashenko's main political opponents as candidates. She has pledged to deliver a plan for transparent and accountable elections within six months of taking office.

Sviatlana Heorhiyeuna Tsikhanouskaya (née Pilipchuk; born 11 September 1982) is a Belarusian educator and the leader of the Belarusian democratic movement. She ran in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election as the main opposition candidate after her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky was arrested in Hrodna by Belarusian authorities. After Lukashenko declared himself the winner she fled via Lithuania and since August 2020 she has worked with a staff of 16 people in exile in Poland.

She was born on September 11, 1982 in the village of Mikashevichy, Brest Region to Georgy Ivanovich and Valentina Nikolaevna Pilipchuk. Her father worked as a driver and her mother as a cook  .