Contents tagged with Belarus

  • Lukashenko gives his son rank of general

    Self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko dismissed his eldest son Viktor from the post of Presidential Assistant for National Security and gave him the rank of reserve Major General, reported Lukashenko’s press service.

    Viktor Lukashenko is 45 years old. He has served as an assistant to the President of Belarus since 2005. Since 2007, Lukashenko’s son has been a member of the Belarusian Security Council. On February 26, Viktor Lukashenko replaced his father as head of the …

  • Kyiv considers imposing sanctions on Lukashenko’s entourage

    Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal instructed the government agencies to study the feasibility of imposing sanctions against the entourage of the self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, said Ukrainian MP Alexei Goncharenko.

    Goncharenko published the Prime Minister's response to the parliamentary inquiry.

    According to the document the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy and the State Border Service has been instructed to consider proposals for …

  • U.S. and UK impose sanctions on Lukashenko’s associates

    The U.S. imposed sanctions on 43 citizens of Belarus in response to the sentencing of two journalists of Belsat TV channel, as well as crackdown on peaceful protesters, pro-democracy activists, and journalists.

    The names of those sanctioned have not been published, but it is specified that they are "high-ranking justice sector officials; law enforcement leaders and rank-and-file personnel who detained and abused peaceful demonstrators; judges and prosecutors involved in sentencing peaceful …

  • Two Belarusian journalists sentenced for live streaming protests in Minsk

    Two journalists of the Belarusian TV channel Belsat, Katerina Bakhvalova and Daria Chultsova, were sentenced to two years in prison for live streaming protests from the Square of Changes in Minsk.

    As reported by the news outlet TUT. BY, it took only three days for the Frunzen District Court of Minsk to hear the case. Bakhvalova and Chultsova were found guilty of "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order".

    On November 15, 2020, the Belsat journalists were broadcasting …

  • Lukashenko asks Putin for another $3 billion

    President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is counting on a new loan from Russia in addition to the $1.5 billion allocated by Moscow in August.

    At the end of February, Lukashenko intends to fly to Sochi for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where the agreement on a new Russian loan will be finalized.

    Lukashenko wants another $3 billion. He asked the Kremlin for permission to spend the funds left over from the previous loan for the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, …

  • Kyiv: Ukraine will cut itself off from power grids of Russia and Belarus

    Ukraine is going to cut itself off from the power grids of Russia and Belarus, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmyrto Kuleba on air of TV channel "Ukraine 24".

    "Ukraine's goal is to join the EU's electricity supply system in 2023. This means that we should cut ourselves off from the Belarusian and Russian systems and fully integrate into the EU," Kuleba said.

    According to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Kyiv continues to adhere to this strategy.

    "We are on this path. And for me as the …

  • Belarus stripped of ice hockey world championship

    Minsk has been stripped of the right to host the 2021 Ice Hockey World Championships, said the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).

    The Federation's statement notes that this decision was made for security reasons.

    The 2021 World Cup was to be held in Minsk and Riga from May 21 to June 6, 2021. However, due to the political situation in Belarus, a number of European countries have spoken out against holding competitions in the country.

    Earlier, Czech automobile manufacturer Skoda …

  • Russia and Belarus to hold large-scale military exercises

    Russia and Belarus plan to hold strategic military exercises Zapad-2021 from September 10 to 16, reports Belta news agency.

    The self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko discussed the upcoming exercises with Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin.

    It is noted that last year a five-year period of building and development of the Belarusian Armed Forces was completed. Lukashenko asked the Defense Minister about the achieved results.

    "However, I would ask you to report …

  • In a leaked wiretap, Belarusian Interior Minister reveals Lukashenko’s orders to shoot at protesters and create special detention camps

    Belarusian opposition initiative By_Pol, the union of the security forces of Belarus,  posted on the Internet an audio recording, where a man, with a voice similar to the Belarusian Interior Minister Nikolai Karpenkov’s, discussing the use of weapons against protesters and the creation of special detention camps.

    In the released recording, one can hear Karpenkov talking about a meeting with the self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, where Lukashenko directly approves the …

  • Lukashenko ready to restore relations with Ukraine

    Alexander Lukashenko expressed readiness to restore relations with Kyiv, despite the fact that Ukraine refused to recognize the results of the presidential elections in Belarus.

    "I don't hold grudges against (Ukraine's president) Volodymyr Zelensky. I understand him: he has said something because he is young. But this does not mean that you should always look at him, while understanding what is happening, and to be offended or angry at him," Lukashenko said in an interview with the TV channel …