{"id":126913,"date":"2025-02-18T23:22:52","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T20:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/126913\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"identity-of-released-american-unveiled","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/126913\/","title":{"rendered":"Identity of released American unveiled"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/shugaev-osvobozhdenie-20250218-dozhd-e1739905595142.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(TV Rain)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>February 18, <em>Pozirk. <\/em><\/strong>The US national released on February 12 is 56-year-old Nikolai Shugaev, <em>TV Rain<\/em> reported. He also has Ukrainian citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shugaev lived in Belarus with his son and wife. After their relationship worsened, she denounced the American to the authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The man told <em>TV Rain<\/em> in an interview that he was brutally arrested in June 2024 for subscribing to \u201cextremist media.\u201d He was also accused of protesting for a Ukrainian flag on his Telegram avatar. As a result, he served four 15-day jail terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey ask me: why do you have George Orwell\u2019s book \u20181984\u2019 on your windowsill? I say: \u2018What do you mean, why? I\u2019m reading it.\u2019 They even confiscated this book during the search. I had two flags hanging on the wall in my apartment \u2014 the American flag and the Ukrainian flag. They confiscated the flags also,\u201d Shugaev said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, the authorities charged him with insulting the head of state and transferred him to a KGB detention facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shugaev said he was asked whether he worked for US, UK or Ukrainian intelligence and whether he was involved in recruitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Shugaev, when on February 12 he was taken out of the detention center with a bag on his head, he \u201cwas saying goodbye to life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The former prisoner is now at a Texas clinic for rehabilitation. In the five months of captivity, he lost 20 kg. His eyesight has deteriorated, and he may have tuberculosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/viachorka_ost_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/viachorka_ost_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/viachorka_ost_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/viachorka_ost_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/viachorka_ost_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/viachorka_ost_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Opposition politician credits sanctions for release of US nationals from Belarusian prisons<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">February 17, Pozirk. A senior Belarusian opposition politician has credited international sanctions for the release of several US nationals from prisons in Belarus in the last few weeks. The US President Donald Trump&#039;s new term in office opened up more &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/126658\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 18, Pozirk. The US national released on February 12 is 56-year-old Nikolai Shugaev, TV Rain reported. He also has Ukrainian citizenship. Shugaev lived in Belarus with his son and wife. After their relationship worsened, she denounced the American to the authorities. The man told TV Rain in an interview that he was brutally arrested [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":126903,"template":"","rubric":[14],"class_list":["post-126913","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Identity of released American unveiled | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"February 18, Pozirk. The US national released on February 12 is 56-year-old Nikolai Shugaev, TV Rain reported. He also has Ukrainian citizenship. 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