Maria Kalesnikava and Veranika Tsapkala met for the first time in five years. Tsapkala published a photo of the meeting on Facebook. The meeting took place in Berlin on February 10.
“How long we waited for you, Masha! A long five years and three months… Positive, always smiling, my fighting friend! For me, you are a true hero and an example of women’s resilience. I was so happy to see you and to hug you tightly,” Veranika Tsapkala wrote.
The trio of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Maria Kalesnikava, and Veranika Tsapkala became a symbol of the peaceful protests during the 2020 election.
Kalesnikava was detained in September 2020, and in 2022 she was sentenced to 11 years in prison. On December 13, 2015, Kalesnikava and another 122 political prisoners were released following negotiations between John Coale and Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
