Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova has sent her first letter in more than two and a half years, according to a statement from her family published on Instagram. The message is her first known communication since early 2023.

Kolesnikova, who is serving an 11-year sentence in the Homel women’s prison colony, has been imprisoned since September 2020. Her detention followed her refusal to be forcibly deported to Ukraine, during which she tore up her passport in front of Belarusian security officials.

In the handwritten letter, Kolesnikova addressed her family and reflected on the time that had passed since their last contact. 

“Every morning I look at the morning sky, and in the evening at the starry sky, I remember you and hug you all tightly in my mind! And I always feel your love and care, which protect me and give me confidence that we will endure everything. The time of our meeting is fast approaching, and it will be the happiest day of my life,” she wrote.

In 2020, Kolesnikova headed the electoral campaign of Belarusian banker and opposition figure Viktor Babariko. Following Babariko’s arrest, she supported opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in the presidential election. After the disputed vote, she became a member of the presidium of the Coordination Council formed during the 2020 Belarusian protests opposing President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.

Later that year, Kolesnikova was kidnapped by unidentified law enforcement officers and taken to the Ukrainian border by force. She was reportedly pressured to leave the country but escaped through a car window, tore up her passport, and returned to Belarus on foot. She was subsequently convicted of “conspiracy to seize power”, “creating an extremist organisation”, and “calls for actions undermining national security”.

Kolesnikova’s letter comes as the Belarusian government seeks to re-establish limited diplomatic channels with Western countries. In recent weeks, at least 60 political prisoners have been released under a United States-mediated arrangement aimed at easing international sanctions. Among those freed were journalists, civil society activists, and opposition figures, some of whom were immediately deported to Lithuania.

Despite these releases, human rights organisations report that more than 1,100 political prisoners remain in custody in Belarus, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and veteran opposition figure Mikalai Statkevich.

The office of exiled opposition leader Tikhanovskaya, based in Vilnius, said that security services loyal to Lukashenko continue to target dissidents abroad “through attacks, disinformation and constant death threats”.