She was the talk of the town in 2020 when her husband ran for president in Belarus, was subsequently arrested and she took over his candidacy. Together with two other women whose husbands were not allowed to run as candidates, Svyatlana Zikhanouskaya continued in the presidential election. The election is internationally recognized as a sham, and the dubious results in favor of long-term powerholder Alexander Lukashenko sparked mass protests in Belarus. Officially, Zikhanouskaya won ten percent of the vote – but some analysts see her as the country’s elected president.