Photo: Donald Tusk / Twitter
Poland on Tuesday, April 28, carried out a “five-for-five” prisoner exchange with Belarus. Among those released on the Polish side was Polish-Belarusian journalist and opposition activist Andrzej Poczobut.
“An exchange at the Polish-Belarusian border is the final act of a complex diplomatic game marked by dramatic twists. It succeeded thanks to the excellent work of our services, diplomats, and prosecutors, as well as great support from our American, Romanian, and Moldovan friends. Thank you on behalf of Andrzej Poczobut and myself,” wrote Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on X.
Belarusian state media reported that the exchange at the “Pereiriv–Belovezha” checkpoint was conducted by the KGB of Belarus and Poland’s Foreign Intelligence Agency. Five individuals convicted in Belarus and Russia on espionage charges were handed over to Poland, while Belarus received five people described as having carried out “particularly important tasks” related to national security, who had been detained in various EU countries.
According to Belarusian sources, negotiations on the exchange had been ongoing since September 2025.
At the time, U.S. Ambassador to Belarus John Cole stated that the United States acted as a mediator: “Today, in my role as Special Envoy of President Trump for Belarus, my team and I helped secure the release of three Poles and two Moldovans. This historic result was made possible by the leadership of President Trump and his team, as well as close coordination with several reliable partners. We thank Poland, Moldova, and Romania for their invaluable support, as well as President Lukashenko’s willingness to engage in constructive dialogue with the United States.”
Among those freed was Andrzej Poczobut, who had spent five years in a Belarusian prison for what authorities described as “especially serious crimes” — namely, criticism of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. He was detained in March 2021 and sentenced in February 2023 to eight years in a high-security penal colony.
Tusk welcomed him with the words: “Welcome home to Poland, my friend.”
Meanwhile, according to the Russian service of the BBC, Poland handed over Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, who had been detained at Ukraine’s request, despite a Polish court recently approving his extradition to Ukraine.
The report also states that Poland transferred two Russian citizens — Butyagin and the wife of a Russian serviceman serving in Transnistria — in exchange for two officers of Moldovan intelligence.
Back in 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that it had gathered evidence against Butyagin, a senior archaeologist at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, for allegedly looting archaeological artifacts from occupied Crimea worth over 200 million hryvnias. These Illegal excavations had reportedly been carried out since 2014, with findings transported to Russia.
Butyagin was detained in Poland on December 11 at Ukraine’s request, and in March a Polish court approved his extradition.
As analysts note, Russia is not only fighting for territory — it is also fighting over history, using scholars, museums, and “restorers” as instruments. The Butyagin case could become a precedent — or remain an exception.
