Sergei Tikhanovsky
Belarusian video blogger and dissident pro-democracy activist
Sergei Leonidovich Tikhanovsky (born 18 August 1978) is a Belarusian YouTuber, video blogger, businessman, opposition leader and pro-democracy activist. He is primarily known for his activism against the government of Belarus's long-serving president, Alexander Lukashenko. In May 2020, he announced his intention of running for the 2020 presidential election, but he was arrested two days after the announcement, and his wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya then ran in place of him as the main rival to Lukashenko in the contested election. On 21 June 2025, after five years of solitary confinement, Tsikhanouski was released from prison after US representative Keith Kellogg's visit to Belarus.
Early life and education
Sergei Leonidovich Tikhanovsky was born in Horki, Mogilev Region, Byelorussian SSR (now Belarus), and raised in Gomel.
He studied at a physical and mathematical gymnasium, then graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the Francisk Skorina Gomel State University.
Tikhanovsky opened nightclubs in Gomel and Mazyr and organized concerts, and became engaged in video production, advertising, and music videos.
YouTube channel
Tikhanovsky says he became a blogger almost by accident. He organized a farmstead near Gomel and faced bureaucratic hurdles from local, regional, and national officials, then spoke of his difficulties with journalists.
The YouTube channel "Country for Life" (Страна для жизни) was launched in 2019.
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