174. Taking On Europe's Last Dictator: The Fight Against Lukashenko and Putin

The Rest Is Politics: Leading

Goalhanger

News, Government, Politics

4.6 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How did Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya go from being a housewife to leading a Belarussian government in exile? How did Aleksandr Lukashenko become the last dictator in Europe? Why was Segei, Sviatlana’s husband, imprisoned for opposing the Putin-backed regime? Alastair and Rory are joined by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya who, along with Bill Browder, is part of a two part series featuring those standing up to Putin. Join The Rest Is Politics Plus: Start your free trial at therestispolitics.com to unlock exclusive bonus content – including Rory and Alastair’s miniseries – plus ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, an exclusive members’ newsletter, discounted book prices, and a private chatroom on Discord. Social Producer: Celine Charles Video Editor: Josh Smith Producer: Alice Horrell Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen Head of Politics: Tom Whiter Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks for listening to The Restis Politics. Sign up to the Restis Politics Plus. To enjoy ad-free listening,
0:04.9	receive a weekly newsletter, join our members chat room and gain early access to live show tickets.
0:09.4	Just go to therestispolities.com. That's therestispolitics.com.
0:14.0	This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Security and compliance done wrong is a headache.
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0:38.2	Do security and compliance right.
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0:46.0	Welcome to the rest of politics leading with me, Rory Stewart.
0:52.7	And me, Alistair Campbell.
0:53.6	And we are with the elected leader of Belarus, but somebody who is not
0:58.9	living in Belarus, who's living mainly in Latvia, leading a government in exile.
1:04.4	And this is Svetlana. I'm going to really struggle with this name, Tsikanovska. She is the wife
1:10.2	of the man who tried to run against Lukashenko,
1:13.1	was stopped from running, and she stepped in. And we're delighted to have her here. This is part of
1:18.5	this two-part series that we've done on Putin's Russia, from through the eyes of Bill Browder
	...

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