Katsiaryna Andreeva: I feel like a dinosaur or an alien who fell from the Moon to Earth and is now just learning to walk

Katya spent over 5 years behind bars. She says that from day one there was hope for release.

Katya says she had no choice whether to stay in Belarus. If she had, she would have stayed home — her family is there, her beloved person is there, her husband Ihar Ilyash, who remained in the Babruisk colony — he was by her side for four years and supported Katya until he himself was detained.

@nashaniva Выйшаўшы на волю, Кацярына Андрэева сутыкнулася з неабходнасцю нанова адаптавацца да жыцця. Пасля доўгай ізаляцыі яна вучыцца звычайным рэчам, напрыклад, пераходзіць дарогу без боязі. Праз некалькі дзён пасля вызвалення Каця прыйшла ў студыю «Белсата» #новостибеларуси #беларусьновости #беларусьсейчас #лукашенко #беларусы ♬ Beace (SuperSlowed) - dundsky & 777 uzic

Katya was asked if she would have changed anything if she had known how things would turn out. She replied that it was a difficult question because not only she suffered, but her whole family did, and her health was lost: "If I could have made my family's suffering less or spared them that suffering, perhaps I would have done things differently. As for my journalistic work, I would have remained true to my profession, because I am first and foremost a journalist."

She hasn't watched Mary Tamkovich's film "Under a Grey Sky" about her and Ihar's story yet, and she thinks it's better to wait for Ihar to watch it together and close this chapter of their lives, because for now it's too difficult an experience.

She and Ihar have been together for 10 years and married since December 2016. But they have spent more than half of this time apart.

Katya last saw Ihar before his imprisonment in July 2024, when he came for a short visit to her in the colony.

"We were supposed to have a long visit on September 11, 2024, but they deprived me of it. I think they knew how to hurt me more. So we didn't get to see each other. In October, Ihar was already taken away.

I constantly insisted that he leave. I pleaded with him simply as a wife. Not as a colleague, not out of civic duty – it was devoid of any political color. I simply asked him to save himself for me, for the future, for our future children, whom we dream of. I really wanted him to leave, to think about himself, about his own safety. But he said: 'If you ask me about this one more time, I will be deeply offended.' It angered him. He insisted on staying in Belarus out of principle. So, as a colleague and as a citizen, I naturally feel respect and admiration for his courage. But as a wife, it just hurts me terribly," she says.

Ihar is currently in correctional colony No. 2 in Babruisk. He was transferred there after his sentence when he received four years. In December 2025, he was transferred to the colony. He spent the first month in the colony in punitive solitary confinement (ShIZA).

"During my absence, during my time in prison, I once again confirmed that I made the right choice, that we are truly destined for each other. He is very stubborn. I asked him to take care of himself, but I knew he was like that: honest, sincere, reserved, and yet a professional in journalism. And in the family, he is a warm, open, homely person. It is simply impossible to imagine a better husband for me. But he is also a friend. And we have all of this, I am sure that we will carry it through our whole lives. But I made mistakes in my relationship with him. And I will simply do everything so that he forgives me, so that he can find something new, good in me. I want to be better for him," she says.

Katya was asked what impressed her in freedom during the few days she has been out.

"Firstly, I even forgot how to hold a phone and use a regular smartphone. Immediately upon our arrival in Vilnius, thanks to volunteer help and friends, we were given phones and taught how to use them at a basic level. For me, it was such an unusual gesture, when you start scrolling through this feed," she says.

"Listen, I feel such spatial disorientation, and in the phone, even more so. I watched videos with artificial intelligence – it's some kind of wonder. I feel like a dinosaur or an alien who fell from the Moon to Earth and is now just learning to walk again. It's like childhood, seriously," she says.

Warsaw also looks unusual.

"It's so unusual that there are no fences, no restrictions, no barbed wire. You can just walk freely. It's so strange. The first few days I just hold my friends' hands to cross the road. I'm telling you honestly. Maybe I look a little helpless, but please forgive me. I will adapt over time," she adds.

She says she was surrounded by such warmth, love, and care.

"It's so pleasant and touching. I didn't expect it to be like this. I am very grateful to everyone: colleagues, friends. I will adapt. The human psyche is very flexible and adaptive. I will quickly adjust to the new conditions. Those who remember me know that I am not faint-hearted. But for now, a little bit," says Katya.

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