The husband of Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has been unexpectedly released from prison in Belarus, along with 13 other political prisoners, BBC reported.

Sergei Tikhanovsky - an opposition activist himself - has been moved to Lithuania and reunited with his wife, who is living in exile in capital Vilnius, after five years in prison.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced her husband's release by posting a 10-second video of their first hug since 2020. She said it was "hard to describe" the joy in her heart.

The sudden release came as US special envoy Keith Kellogg visited Minsk, Belarus' capital, on Saturday and held a meeting with the country's authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, according to BBC.