'Kidnapped' Belarus sprinter is holed up in Japan's Polish embassy after country granted her a visa - as her husband flees to Ukraine after coaches' orders to return home left athlete fearing for her life

'Kidnapped' Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is holed up in the Polish embassy in Tokyo after the country granted her a humanitarian visa amid concerns over her safety.

On Sunday, Tsimanouskaya refused an order to fly back to Belarus from the Tokyo Olympics.

The 24-year-old was seen going into the Polish embassy in the Japanese capital on Monday, having spent the night at a 'secure' airport hotel after handing herself over to police at the city's main airport on Sunday.

Hours later, it was revealed that she had been granted a humanitarian visa and is now due to fly to Warsaw on Wednesday, where it is hoped she will be safe from the regime of dictatorial ruler Alexander Lukashenko.

Meanwhile Tsimanouskaya's husband Arseni Zhdanevich revealed he had fled his home country to Ukraine, speaking to journalists from Kiev on Monday and saying that he hopes to join his wife in Poland 'in the near future'.

'I made the decision to leave without thinking twice,' he told Sky News, though admitted he didn't expect the situation to escalate as far as it has. 'We're just normal sports people,' he added, 'we're just devoted to sports and we're not interested in the opposition movement.'

He fled as Franak Viocorka, senior adviser Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, warned Tsimanouskaya's family who are still in the country could now become targets of the regime to put pressure on her. He later claimed on Twitter that her parents and grandmother are under threat.

The saga began last week when Tsimanouskaya uploaded a post to Instagram criticising her trainers for entering her into the 4x400m relay without her knowledge and without her training for the event. She was due to compete in the 200m sprint today.

She was next seen at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Sunday where she handed herself over to police, claiming she was being taken out of the country against her will and that she feared for her safety if she returned home.

Lukashenko, known as Europe's last dictator, has cracked down on dissent since claiming victory in elections last year that he is widely thought to have rigged - jailing critics who have reported being beaten and electrocuted by police behind bars. At least 10 people have died as a result, opposition activist say.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, 24, the Belarusian athlete who claimed Olympic officials from her country were trying to kidnap her after she criticised them, is pictured arriving at the Polish embassy in Tokyo as she seeks asylum

Tsimanouskaya hit out at her country's Olympic body - run by dictator Alexander Lukashenko's son, Viktor - after she was entered into a race without her knowledge, before 'an order was received' to send her home

Viktor Lukashenko: Dictator's son who crushed protests and now leads Olympic committee

The eldest son of Belarus dictator Alexander, 45-year-old Viktor Lukashenko is made in his father's image - both in terms of looks and personality.

Raised to lead the country, he attended the Belarusian State University where he studied international relations before serving in the country's border guards as part of his mandatory military service - the same section of the military his father served in.

He went on to work in the foreign ministry and for Agat, a military technology company, before becoming national security adviser to his father in 2005.

During protests that followed the 2010 election in Belarus, which Lukashenko is widely thought to have rigged, Viktor was involved in repressing dissent.

He was subsequently sanctioned by the EU, which accused him of playing 'a key role in the repressive measures implemented against the democratic opposition and civil society... In particular in the crackdown of the demonstration on 19 December.'

On that occasion, riot police had brutally beaten thousands of protesters and arrested hundreds as they tried to storm the presidential palace in frustration at the election result.

Vladimir Neklyaev, an opposition leader, was beaten unconscious in a separate incident before being carried away to jail wrapped in a carpet.

Viktor was elected as head of Belarus's Olympic Committee - replacing his father - in February this year, prompting sanctions from the global body.

The International Olympic Committee said in March that it refused to recognise the election and would ban both Alexander and Viktor Lukashenko from attending the Tokyo Games for 'failing to protect athletes from political discrimination' following anti-regime protests in which many sportsmen took part.

Dmitry Baskov, who was elected board member of the Belarus committee, was also sanctioned. He is suspected of ordering or participating in the beating of artist Raman Bandarenka, who later died in hospital.

State-owned media in Belarus wasted no time in trashing Tsimanouskaya's reputation after she fled, describing her as a 'rotten dog' and 'Instagram diva' who is a 'disgrace to her country'.

A presenter for the state-owned ONT broadcaster ominously warned: 'Something tells us that this is the end of Tsimanouskaya, not even as a sports person, but just as a person.'

Meanwhile an audio recording has been leaked purporting to capture the moment Tsimanouskaya was told she would be flying home after 'an order was received' from on-high.

The audio, released by Belarus Telegram channel 'Nick and Mike' which is hostile to Lukashenko, allegedly documents Tsimanouskaya arguing with two men identified as Belarus athletics head coach Yury Moisevich and Artur Shumak, deputy director of the country's athletics training academy.

On the tape, the man believed to be Shumak tells her that 'an order has been received' for her to go home, saying the plan is to play it off in public as a sports injury but that in reality it is because of 'accusations and comments that you made' - after Tsimanouskaya criticised her trainers on Instagram.

A man believed to be Moisevich then tells her bluntly to 'shut up' and 'obey', adding that 'nothing good will happen' if she decides to stay in Tokyo.

But Tsimanouskaya pushes back, prompting Shumak to compare her to a fly caught in a web.

'When a fly gets into a web, the more it moves, the more it gets entangled. This is how life works,' he says. 'We do stupid things, you have done something stupid. I hope you understand that.'

Moisevich then adds: 'If do not obey, then we have no escape routes. You know, if there is gangrene, they cut off half of the leg, otherwise they cannot save the whole organism.

'Yes, sorry for the leg. Otherwise, stay with your leg and die.'

When Tsimanouskaya accuses him of 'covering your own a**' by ordering her to go home, he encourages her to be 'smart' and not resist. 'Believe me, I'm not saving my own a**,' he adds.

It is not clear how the audio was recorded or leaked, though it appears it was made before Tsimanouskaya was taken to the airport.

The 24-year-old athlete fell foul of Lukashenko's regime after criticising Belarus's Olympic committee - headed by the dictator's son, Viktor - after she was entered into a 4x400m relay event without her knowledge and never having trained for the event. Tsimanouskaya is a 200m sprinter.

Tsimanouskaya said: 'I am afraid that in Belarus they might put me in jail. I am not afraid that I will be fired or kicked out of the national . I am worried about my safety. And I think that at the moment it is not safe for me in Belarus.'

Tsimanouskaya recounted how on Saturday she was told she needed to be 'removed from the Olympics' and claimed that Yuri Moisevich, the head coach of the Belarusian national team, warned her that if she did not agree to drop out of the 200m: 'I will be removed from the national team, deprived of work and, perhaps, there will be some other consequences.'

The two eventually decided she would run but the following day she was instructed to pack up. She claims Moisevich told her the decision was no longer with the Ministry of Sport, and had been made 'at a higher level'.

said it appears the athlete has been caught up in a wave of repressions that has taken place in Belarus since last year.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he also issued a warned for the safety of her family if they remain in the country.

'The good news is that she is safe, the bad news is that her family are still in Belarus and Lukashnko's regime can use them as hostages,' he said.

Tsimanouskaya is being assisted by the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation , which supports athletes jailed or sidelined for their political views. The International Olympic Committee has also become involved in the case following an appeal from the athlete.

Lukashenko targets sports stars after they led protests against his rule

Sport is never far from politics in the ex-Soviet country ruled by Lukashenko, the long-serving authoritarian leader who sparked mass protests last year for claiming to have won a sixth presidential term.

Belarusian security forces unleashed a crackdown against the protests, detaining thousands of demonstrators and pushing opposition leaders into exile.

Shortly before the Tokyo Games, Lukashenko warned sports officials and athletes that he expected results in Tokyo.

'Think about it before going,' he said. 'If you come back with nothing, it's better for you not to come back at all.'

Tsimanouskaya was one of more than 2000 Belarusian sports figures who signed an open letter last year calling for new elections and for all political prisoners to be freed following the mass protests.

Some athletes were also briefly detained in the protests, including a kickboxing champion and an Olympic medalist.

In August last year, Tsimanouskaya had called for an end to repression.

'I am against any kind of repression, I am for peace, for honesty, for freedom of speech,' she said in a post on Instagram underneath a photo of her holding the Belarusian flag.

Aside from that post, Tsimanouskaya's Instagram is dominated by posts about her training sessions and nutrition.

Belarus's exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya accused the Lukashenko regime of trying to 'kidnap' Tsimanouskaya.

'Tsimanouskaya is proof that any Belarusian athlete sent to the Olympics can become a hostage if he finds the courage to speak,' she said on messaging app Telegram.

Belarusian state television scorned the runner, with one presenter calling her 'a person that has nothing to do with the Olympic movement'.

The country's sports and political officials have suggested that the incident was pre-planned and could have been orchestrated from outside.

'It is possible that (outside influence) was working with the girl,' said political commentator Alexander Shpakovsky in the official newspaper of Belarus's presidential administration, Sovetskaya Belorussiya, suggesting the country's neighbours were involved.

Born in 1996 in eastern Belarus, Tsimanouskaya competed in the 200m at the world championships in Doha in 2019, but was knocked out in the heats after finishing fourth in her race in a time of 23.22 seconds.

'The IOC and Tokyo 2020 have spoken to Krystsina Tsymanouskaya directly tonight,' the organisation said in a Twitter post on Sunday.

'She is with the authorities at Haneda airport and is currently accompanied by a staff member of Tokyo 2020. She has told us that she feels safe,' it said in a tweet.

'The IOC and Tokyo 2020 will continue their conversations with Krystsina Tsimanouskaya and the authorities to determine the next steps in the upcoming days.'

Tsimanouskaya told Tribuna that she now plans to seek asylum and will make a decision on which country to seek it in tomorrow.

'We will act step by step. I plan to leave Tokyo, but not on the flight they wanted me to be. Now I am under the protection of the police,' she said.

A source at the BSSF had earlier told Reuters that Tsimanouskaya planned to request asylum in Germany or Austria on Monday.

Meanwhile foundation's head, former Olympic swimmer Aliaksandra Herasimenia, told the Associated Press that Poland may also offer assistance.

The sprinter's dilemma began when she alleged in a now-deleted Instagram video that she was entered into a 4x400m relay event on Thursday at short notice by Belarusian officials after some team mates were found to be ineligible to compete.

She claimed that following the release of the video coaching staff had come to her room on Sunday and told her to pack to return home.

Tsimanouskaya told Tribuna that she packed as slowly as possible, while contacting relatives and authorities for advice. She said was told to seek help from police at the airport.

The BSSF said Tsimanouskaya had been targeted by supporters of the Belarusian government, led by Alexander Lukashenko, who is often dubbed 'Europe's last dictator'.

'The campaign was quite serious and that was a clear signal that her life would be in danger in Belarus,' Alexander Opeikin, a spokesman for the BSSF, told The Associated Press in an interview.

'We appealed to a number of countries for help,' said Herasimenia, a three-time Olympic medallist. 'But the first that reacted was the Polish consulate. We are ready to accept their help.'

Tsimanouskaya summoned Japanese police at Haneda Airport and did not board a flight departing for Istanbul. Foreign ministry officials arrived later at the airport, Opeikin said.

In a statement on Sunday afternoon, the Belarusian Olympic Committee said that national coaches had decided to withdraw Tsimanouskaya from the Tokyo Games on doctors' advice about her 'emotional, psychological state'.

She refuted this assessment, telling Tribuna she was never visited by a doctor.

'No doctors came to me, no one examined me. I have a good psychological state, even though such a situation has occurred. I carry on normally, I have no health problems, no injuries, no mental issues. I was ready to run,' Tsimanouskaya said.

The IOC had been in dispute with the Belarus National Olympic Committee ahead of the Tokyo Games.

Ms Tsimanouskaya was born and raised in Belarus, but will now fly to Poland on August 4 to try and start a new life after criticism of her Olympic coaches led to her being threatened. Meanwhile husband Arseni Zhdanevich has fled to Ukraine, saying he hopes to join his wife in Warsaw 'in the near future'

Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is seen at Haneda international airport in Tokyo

Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is escorted by police officers at Haneda international airport

Europe's last dictator: Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994

Born in 1954 in the village of Kopys, in what was then the USSR, Alexander Lukashenko was the son of an unknown father - thought by some to by a Roma gypsy - and a labourer mother, Ekaterina Lukashenko.

He studied in Belarus and graduated from the Mogilyov Teaching Institute in 1975, then went on to study at the Belarusian Agricultural Academy in the 1980s.

He did a brief stint in the Belarusian border guards and also served in the Soviet Army, becoming involved in politics as a teacher within the military and as the leader of a Leninist organisation in the city of Mogilev.

After leaving the military he joined the ranks of the Communist Party and was appointed leader of a state farm, before being elected to the Supreme Council of Belarus in 1990.

Lukashenko made his name as an anti-corruption campaigner and emerged as a strong political ally of Moscow - the only deputy to oppose the December 1991 agreement that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

In 1994 he appealed to Russia to form a new union of Slavic states, shortly before his election as President of Belarus - promising stronger ties between the two nations.

Two years later, he persuaded voters to approve a new constitution allowing him to extend his term in office, rule by decree, and to appoint a majority of parliament.

Lukashenko used those powers to extend his term in 1999, and won an election in 2001 and another in 2006 - amid allegations of vote-rigging that resulted EU leaders banning him from their countries.

Election victories - accompanied by more allegations of fixing - followed again in 2010 and 2015.

Lukashenko's popularity declined rapidly between 2015 and 2020, spurred on by his increasingly erratic behaviour coupled with mismanagement of the Covid crisis - during which he claimed vodka and saunas could prevent the disease.

Amid a wave of dissent, another election was held in 2020 which returned an official victory for Lukashenko with 80 per cent of the vote - though few believe this to be accurate.

His main opponent - Sergei Tikhanovsky - was arrested in the run-up to the ballot, leaving wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to run in his stead. She subsequently fled the country to Lithuania after being targeted by police.

Anger at the result sparked the largest wave of protests in Belarus since its Soviet days, with mass demonstrations, strikes and calls for a change of leadership.

Lukashenko responded by sending riot police on to the streets to round up dissenters, with an estimated 25,000 arrested by November. Ten have so-far died amid the crackdown.

Lukashenko has also cracked down on journalists, raiding the offices of the country's largest newspaper Tut.by along with the home of its editor on charges of 'tax evasion'.

In May he staged his most-daring move yet, diverting a Ryanair jet carrying dissident reporter Roman Protasevich to Lithuania before arresting him.

Mr Protasevich's allies, including Ms Tsikhanouskaya, say they now fear for his life.

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

A woman was captured on camera following a customer through a supermarket as she coughs on her after claiming she does not need a mask because she is not sick. Video of the incident, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter alone, allegedly took place in a Su per Saver in Lincoln, Nebraska according to Twitter user @davenewworld_2. In it, an unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of the customer recording her. Scroll down for video An unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of a woman recording her A woman was captured on camera following a customer as she coughs on her in a supermarket without a mask on claiming she does not need one because she is not sick @chaiteabugz #karen #covid #karens #karensgonewild #karensalert #masks we were just wearing a mask at the store. ¿ o

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