Belarus frees 52 political prisoners as US lifts sanctions on airline

US sanctions against Belavia have been lifted (Mindaugas Kulbis/AP)

Belarus has freed 52 political prisoners as the United States announced it was lifting sanctions on the isolated country’s national airline.

Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has been repeatedly slapped with Western sanctions both for its authoritarian government’s crackdown on human rights and its role in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.