In the evening, both media representatives and residents arrived at the embassy, waiting for some of the released prisoners to arrive. Soon, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also appeared.
According to the BNS news agency, nine prisoners were released through Lithuania, while the rest were released through Ukraine. The prisoners were reportedly released"in accordance with agreements reached with US President Donald Trump."
As previously announced, the process of releasing political prisoners began in Belarus on Saturday. Some of the released individuals were taken across the Lithuanian border.
Among those released are activist Maryja Kalesnikava, as well as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiackis, who has already arrived in Vilnius.
"I am happy to be free," said A. Bialiackis near the US embassy.
"I still can't recover because it's a big emotional blow for me," said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
On Friday, US envoy John Coale arrived in Minsk for talks with Belarus' authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka. On Saturday, it was also announced that the US was lifting sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizers.
It is estimated that 123 political prisoners have now regained their freedom.
Prisoners of the Lukashenko regime were also released a few months ago, in September. There was certainly no shortage of emotions in Vilnius at that time - people cried and hugged each other when they saw their loved ones.
It is true that not all those released in September were eager to come to Lithuania. The released former Belarusian opposition leader Mikalai Statkevičius refused to leave Belarus - he stood on the border on the Belarusian side for some time, but eventually turned back into the depths of the country.
President Gitanas Nausėda announced the release of the prisoners at a hastily convened conference.
As the country's leader stated a few months ago, among the more than 50 people released were citizens of Great Britain, Latvia, Poland, Germany, and France.
In order to avoid possible imprisonment, the president at that time urged citizens to continue to refrain from non-essential travel to Belarus.
