It was standing room only for those at the back of the University of Tartu Museum's White Hall on Monday. Such was the level of anticipation for the arrival of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, political activist and leader of the Belarusian democratic movement, who was here to give a public lecture about the latest situation in her homeland – "Belarus after 2020: Dictatorship vs. European Future."

In her speech, Tsikhanouskaya emphasized the need to keep Belarus' message in the public consciousness. "I don't need to say it here," she tells the audience. "But we need to bring this understanding to big capitals – don't put us in one basket with Russia."

Tsikhanouskaya was also keen to express gratitude to Estonia for its role in making sure Belarus is not forgotten. "Sometimes even small countries can make a difference," she says. "I will never forget how Estonia, three times in a row, gathered at the UN Security Council to discuss Belarus."

There was too, however, a note of caution. Tsikhanouskaya pointed out that despite their continuing will to fight for freedom, the situation in homeland is far from easy. "We need to keep Europe open to honest Belarusians," Tsikhanouskaya says.

"Don't let the regime create an iron curtain, keep visas accessible. Because for many in Belarus, a visa is not a luxury, it's a lifeline, a guarantee of safety. So that if the KGB knocks on your door, you can leave the country quickly and safely. I'm grateful to the Estonian government for supporting us in this regard."

"I do believe that Belarus can be a successful story," she adds. "And it will be a success story. Very much like Estonia."

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Tsikhanouskaya's goals during this visit to Estonia are clear.

"I want to spread more information to ordinary people about my country, about Belarus," Tsikhanouskaya tells me after her lecture. "Because people are forgetting. Time flies and I see how there is less and less attention and understanding about what is going on in my country."

This is mostly a case of trying to keep the situation in Belarus on people's minds, she explains, especially given the multitude of other crises going on in the world right now and how short our attention spans tend to be.

"Belarusian problems are not the everyday problems of Estonian people. They don't concentrate [on that] and it's understandable. But Lukashenko's regime is continuing to detain and beat and rape Belarusian people," she says.

"My task is to explain why participation in the crises in our region is important for Estonia as well. It is not only the fate of Belarus and Ukraine that is under threat, but also the security of the whole of Europe," Tsikhanouskaya explains.

"As a part of Europe, it's in your interest to protect those who are fighting against tyrants. Because if we do not stop tyrants now, they will come to your countries and they will knock on your doors. What are going to do then?"

"I see how dictators are trying to poison the minds of ordinary people," Tsikhanouskaya continues. "They spread messages that 'it's not your war,' or 'it's not your fight,' so why sacrifice your comfortable life? Just live and enjoy. They want to persuade people not to think about their neighbors. But that's the first step to allowing dictators to come closer to you," she says.

"But it is our common fight. So be part of our fight for democracy."

"We are rather close to Estonia but sometimes you don't understand what's happening in Belarus. So, my task is to deliver this information."

***

After her lecture at the University of Tartu, Tsikhanouskaya's next port of call was the Estonian capital, Tallinn.

There, she held official meetings with representatives of the Estonian government. Her goal in those talks, she told me, was "to explain what we need at the moment, to tell them the number of political prisoners in prison. Repressions are continuing in Belarus, and we need the support and assistance of our allies."

The main purpose of all of this, Tsikhanouskaya says, is "to put more pressure on Lukashenko's regime, to help Belarusian people more – our civil society, our independent media, our human rights defenders, to help us strengthen agents of democratic forces."

She also wants to garner Estonian support for Lithuania's move this September, when it referred crimes committed by the Lukashenko regime to the International Criminal Court. "Lithuania's courage gives us hope that the world is finally holding the regime accountable for his atrocities," Tsikhanouskaya said in a statement at the time. She now hopes Estonia will follow suit.

"But also, we are going to talk a lot about the so-called peace talks between Russia and Ukraine," Tsikhanouskaya says. "Because the Belarusian aspect should be in these talks. We can't just leave Belarus until the next day, until a day later, because we could lose our country, our independence."

***

Tsikhanouskaya opened her lecture in Tartu on a more personal note. "If someone had told me a few years ago that I would be standing on this stage at one of the oldest universities in northern Europe, speaking as a representative of democratic Belarus, I would have laughed and said 'you've got the wrong person,'" she said. "I'm just a mum trying to survive my kids' homework."

Now of course, she's clearly so much more than that. But it was the first of several reminders that for Tsikhanouskaya, there is also a deeply personal side to all this.

Throughout our conversation, she holds a large photo of her husband, Siarhei Tsikhanouski. Jailed in 2020 after announcing he would run against Lukashenko in the presidential elections, it was in his absence that Tsikhanouskaya initially launched her own campaign.

"It's because of my husband that I'm standing here with you," she told the audience during her lecture. "I don't know if he's alive at the moment. I want to believe in it," Tsikhanouskaya says.

"But my husband and other political prisoners cannot speak now. So, we must be their voices too. I came into politics out of love for him. I wanted to support my husband," she says. "But, in the end, I fell in love with my people, and I will not stop fighting for Belarus until all are free."

***

Tsikhanouskaya has now lived in exile for the past four years. During that time, her love for Belarus clearly remains undiminished.

"Of course, it's the place where I grew up, where I got married and where my children were born," she tells me. "But it's mostly about a sense of motherland." Right now, she says, "you don't understand when you're going to return to your homeland, when you're going to hug your husband, when you're going to see all those people who are behind bars at the moment."

"So, it's about pain for lost time – the time when you're not just living your life, you are fighting the fight. And of course, it's important for the future of Belarus and for the political prisoners," she adds. "My children don't see me a lot," Tsikhanouskaya tells me. "My children don't see their grandparents because they're in Belarus. So, it's these kinds of lost possibilities."

***

My time with Tsikhanouskaya is technically already up but I still manage to squeeze in one last question. As powerful a symbol as she has become of her people's fight for freedom, she's also never been afraid to show her human side. So, I ask, how does she, as an individual, keep going amidst all this?

"You know, my pain is my huge motivator," Tsikhanouskaya tells me. "Because every day, I think about those people who are behind bars, who don't even have the possibility to fight. They believe in us, they believe in the democratic world – that we will find a solution, we will find strength to defeat these dictators, and release all of them," she says.

"When you are sitting in the cold KGB the cell, your biggest fear is that you are forgotten," she'd told the audience during her lecture at the University of Tartu. "That feeling breaks you and it kills you. And I know what I'm talking about, it's my personal pain too. For almost two years, my husband has been held incommunicado. He's been in prison since 2020, and he's not the only one – no letters, no lawyers, no protests allowed."

"So, in the moments when you're exhausted, when you think that you're losing all your energy, I look to my husband," she tells me, gesturing to the photo of him she continues to hold close. "And I know that he is waiting for the moment when we'll release them."

***

The full video of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's public lecture at the University of Tartu can be seen here.

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