Belarusian street protest leader Maria Kolesnikova and Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski walked free on Saturday with 121 other political prisoners released in an unprecedented US-brokered deal.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has locked up thousands of his opponents, critics and protestors since the 2020 election, which rights groups said was rigged and which triggered weeks of protests that almost toppled him.

The charismatic Kolesnikova was the star of the 2020 movement that presented the most serious challenge to Lukashenko in his 30-year rule.

She famously ripped up her passport as the KGB tried to deport her from the country.

Bialiatski –- a 63-year-old veteran rights defender and 2022 Nobel Prize winner –- is considered by Lukashenko to be a personal enemy. He has doc

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