Belarus has scheduled its next presidential election for January 26, 2025, the country’s Central Electoral Commission announced on Oct. 23. Incumbent Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko is widely expected to hold on to power following the election's result.
The Belarusian Air Force downed a Russian Shahed-type drone over Belarus' Homel Oblast overnight on Oct. 20, the monitoring group Belarusian Hajun reported. The incident marks just the third time a Belarusian aircraft has downed a drone that entered its airspace.
Ukraine's Air Force said that beyond the 80 drones that were shot down across the country, another 44 were "lost."
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, in a comment to a Russian reporter, said that recent changes to Russia's nuclear weapons policy were long overdue and would likely "cool the ardor" of Western nations.
The two MiG-31K jets landed in Belarus on Oct. 9 and 10, a year and a half after their last appearance in Belarus.
Editor's Note: This story was updated on Oct. 13 after the monitoring group Hajun reported that the two MiG-31 jets had likely returned to Russia. Two Russian MiG-31K jets were transferred to Belarus this week, potentially signaling Russia’s efforts to protect its warplanes amid increasing Ukrainian strikes on Russian
One of three Russian drones that crossed into Belarus as Alexander Lukashenko was flying from his residence crashed in a populated area, witnesses of the crash arrested. Poland expresses support for Lithuania's ICC Referral over Lukashenko's alleged crimes. Seven defendants sentenced in absentia to 25 years in prison for damaging
A second Russian Mig-31K jet, capable of carrying Kinzhal missiles, landed in Belarus' Machulishchy airport, the Belarusian Hajun monitoring group reported on Oct. 10.
The MiG-31K landing is the first in a year and a half. In April 2023, three Russian MiG-31Ks left the country and have not been spotted there since then, the Belaruski Hajun monitoring group reported.
Editor's note: The interview has been edited for clarity. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Despite receiving popular support during the 2020 elections, the Belarusian opposition leader was kicked out of her country, her supporters were jailed en masse, while the country she wanted to
The Minsk City Court sentenced 12 people to prison over sabotage of the Machulishchy military airfield in Belarus last year, the Viasna human rights group said on Oct. 4. Some of the sentences were handed down in absentia.
Three Shahed drones flew into Belarusian airspace on Oct. 3 as Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko was traveling by helicopter over the country, according to the monitoring group Belaruski Hajun.
Lithuania has formally requested the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate crimes against humanity committed by the regime of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
The combat training tasks will involve all training areas of the Belarusian Armed Forces. During the inspection, military conscripts from the country's reserves will be called up, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a seemingly significant modification of Russia’s military doctrine in a statement on Sept. 25. He revealed that the new doctrine would propose considering aggression against Russia by a non-nuclear state, “with the participation or support of a nuclear state,” as a “joint attack” on
An attack on Belarus would lead to World War III, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claimed on Sept. 27, following Russian President Vladimir Putin's call to update Russia's nuclear doctrine, according to the Belarusian state-owned news agency Belta. Putin proposed a series of changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine on Sept. 25
The Ukrainian Air Force retracted an earlier statement that an aerial target violated Ukrainian airspace from Belarus on the afternoon of Sept. 24.
Both Russia and Belarus were excluded from the International Chess Federation in the wake of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Austria-headquartered Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) agreed to sell its stake in its Belarusian subsidiary Priorbank, marking the first step toward fully withdrawing from the Belarusian market, RBI announced on Sept. 20.
In the fourth round of pardons since July, Lukashenko frees another 37 political prisoners, with around 1,300 remaining behind bars. Prosecutors in the Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast pressed charges against a Belarusian Kalinouski Regiment fighter held in captivity for two years. Latvian parliament passes a bill banning Belarus-registered vehicles from
A group of 13 Ukrainian chess players has sent a letter to the International Chess Federation (FIDE), urging the continued ban on Russian and Belarusian players from competitions due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
A Russian drone with an armed warhead crashes in Latvia after crossing Belarus. Minsk officially confirmed the downing of a drone in its airspace, as reported by Belarusian Hajun monitoring group. Poland issued arrest warrants for 3 Belarusian officials accused of orchestrating the 2021 forced landing of a commercial Ryanair
In the wake of a Ukrainian incursion in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko began to move his country’s Armed Forces closer to Ukraine’s borders. And Ukrainian officials began to pay attention to those movements. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry warned that Belarus is "concentrating a significant number
Speaking at a press conference, Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said the perpetrators' goals were to "extort information, to blackmail individuals and institutions, and to wage de facto cyberwar."
Since June 2024, the 78th Air Assault Regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, together with other units, has been stationed in the Chornobyl exclusion zone, north of Kyiv. The regiment has been part of the latest group of forces Ukraine transferred closer to the border with Belarus, following ongoing threats
Seven weeks into Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a thinly veiled threat toward Ukraine and its allies during a Russian Security Council meeting on nuclear deterrence. "An aggression by a non-nuclear state with the participation of a nuclear state is proposed to be considered
Belarusian fighter jets reportedly shot at a Russian drone in Belarusian airspace for the first time. Sweden to review Belarusian asylum application rulings amid criticism for using outdated country information. Belarusian activist awaits Serbian court’s extradition ruling, fears persecution and torture at home. Subscribe to the Newsletter Belarus Weekly
Key developments on Sept. 5: * Russian advance near Pokrovsk stalled in recent days, Syrskyi says * Russia pulls 60,000 troops to counter Kursk incursion, Zelensky claims * Officials say 55 killed, 328 injured in Poltava as rescue operations conclude * Romanian president signs decree on donating Patriot to Ukraine * Belarus confirms downing
Belarus' military confirmed the downing of a drone early on Sept. 5, shortly after the monitoring group Belarusian Hajun reported that Belarus had downed two Russian attack drones.
The Belarusian Air Force downed two Russian attack drones on Sept. 5 near the Belarusian city of Gomel, the monitoring group Belaruski Hajun claimed. If confirmed, the incident would appear to be the first successful interception of Russian drones by Belarusian forces over the country's airspace.
Belarus plans to host an international conference on combating illegal migration in November 2024, with participation from some European Union ministers, according to Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov.
Sitting on NATO's eastern frontier, Lithuania has been punching above its weight when it comes to aiding Ukraine. Ranked among the top military donors in terms of GDP per capita, the country of 2.8 million has provided Ukraine with helicopters, drones, armored vehicles, and air defenses, not to mention
