Antisemitic riots erupted in Russia’s North Caucasus on Oct. 28-29, with angry mobs looking for Jews and some going as far as calling for murdering them. The rioters in the Muslim-majority North Caucasian regions protested against Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas, an Islamist terrorist group in the
A Wall Street Journal analysis sheds light on Russia’s growing nuclear capabilities in Belarus. Belarus expects over $600 million from Russia to compensate for losses sustained from a Russian tax change back in 2018. Poland issues a European arrest warrant against six members of Lukashenko’s security services. A
WARSAW – This wasn’t supposed to happen. With sweeping control over state financial resources and public and local media, Poland’s populist ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), had a massive structural advantage in this month’s parliamentary election. It should have won handily and continued consolidating its illiberal, anti-democratic
Lukashenko meets with Iran’s first vice president in Minsk to lament Western sanctions amid the countries’ continued support for Russia’s war against Ukraine. Lukashenko attends the CIS summit in Kyrgyzstan to mark Putin’s first trip abroad since his international arrest warrant was issued. The Belarusian parliament approves
Fridays at Russian tech giant Yandex — the company once christened as "Russia's Google" — are marked by a large-scale all-hands meeting where employees can bring questions and problems to the company's upper management. Called khural, among the company's employees, a name for Mongolian parliament, the values behind it are usually associated
According to an exit poll released after voting ended at 9 p.m. local time, Poland's opposition is set to win the country's general election. The Ipsos exit poll gave Poland's governing Law and Justice (PiS) party 36.8% of the vote, which would result in 200 seats in the
Hundreds of Ukrainians have been caught in the crossfire inside the Gaza Strip after Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7 prompted Israel to respond with a total blockade and intense bombardment of the small Palestinian enclave. Ukraine is now working to evacuate 243 Ukrainian citizens from Gaza, which has plunged
The White House announced on Oct. 13 that North Korea had delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and ammunition to bolster Russia's war against Ukraine. Washington published pictures tracking a set of containers as it traveled from Najin, North Korea, to Dunay, Russia, by a Russian-flagged vessel.
Voters in Poland will cast ballots on Oct. 15 in a high-stakes parliamentary election that may return the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party to power for a third-straight term, following months of acrimonious campaigning that saw Warsaw's support for Ukraine emerge as one key point of contention. All
The International Red Cross issues its Belarusian branch an ultimatum: If its current head is not dismissed, the Belarusian branch will no longer receive funding. Minsk showcases children taken from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine to foreign diplomats visiting Belarus. Minsk announces the creation of a new chain of stores selling
Over the past year, allied nations Poland and Ukraine went from displays of enthusiastic support and gratitude to trading veiled accusations in the UN General Assembly. When Russia launched a full-scale invasion, Poland took the initiative to provide weapons to Ukraine and called on others to do the same. Poland's
Palestinian terrorist group Hamas shocked the world on Oct. 7 by launching an unprecedented deadly offensive against Israel, brutally killing over 1,000 people and taking at least 150 Israelis hostage. As Iran-backed terrorists rampaged through Israeli cities, some – including many in Ukraine – pointed fingers at Russia, a country with
Days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, global news outlets cast Poland as a humanitarian superpower. Poles opened their homes to hundreds of thousands of refugees, offered transport, handed out hot soup and warm words of welcome. The government, too, sought to position itself as Kyiv’s champion
Belarus plans a visit for foreign representatives to places where abducted Ukrainian children are held, in an attempt to evade complicity in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Minsk claims again that a Polish helicopter violated its airspace, a claim Warsaw vehemently denies. Belarusian authorities shut down the last officially registered
With the Polish parliamentary elections just around the corner, the country's rising far-right threaten Poland's relations with Ukraine in more ways than one. The Confederation party, a contender for third place in the upcoming Oct. 15 elections, is a disrupting force that pushes the country's mainstream further and further to
Robert Fico’s Direction – Social Democracy (Smer) has secured victory in the latest Slovak elections with 23% of the vote. Ex-Prime Minister Fico, who expressed dissatisfaction with his country’s support of neighboring Ukraine, has an open road to a third stint as the country’s prime minister. Yet, despite
Representatives of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s regime attend the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. Belarus’ foreign affairs minister calls for the UN to expand the Security Council. Belarusian democratic forces are also in attendance. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urges Lukashenko to be excluded from UN forums.
Lukashenko proposes creating a trilateral partnership with Russia and North Korea during his meeting with Putin in Sochi. Forty-eight Ukrainian children abducted from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine arrive in Belarus. Latvia closes one of its border crossings with Belarus due to “the most tense situation since 2021” amid the Minsk-engineered
On Sept. 19, just under three years after the end of the last major war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Baku moved decisively to finish what it started in 2020. Shortly after the announcement of the launching of “anti-terrorist” measures by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry,
The European Parliament recognizes the regime of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko as an accomplice to the crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, including the mass abduction of children from occupied parts of Ukraine. The Red Cross recommends that the head of its Belarus branch, Dzmitryi Shautsou, step down until the
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko signs a decree prohibiting the country’s embassies from issuing or renewing passports for Belarusians living abroad, leaving the regime’s critics vulnerable to prosecution if they return. The Nobel Foundation withdraws its invites to Russia, Belarus, and Iran for the Nobel Prize awards in Stockholm,
The death of an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin is not something new in history. More than 20 critics and opponents of Putin have been murdered or died in suspicious circumstances since 2000. However, the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary group and once a
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claims Wagner’s “core” will remain in Belarus despite observations suggesting that the mercenary group is leaving after the death of its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania threaten to completely shut their borders with Belarus should a “critical incident” involving the Wagner Group occur.
Just two days before a plane carrying Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin along with other top commanders of the Kremlin-linked mercenary group crashed over Russia, a video appeared online in which Prigozhin claimed to be somewhere on the African continent. In the video, published by the Russian "Razgruzka Vagnera" Telegram channel
Aside from the capital city of Tbilisi, where 40 miles away Russian occupying troops are stationed in Georgia’s South Ossetia region, the danger of unjust peace is also felt in Batumi, the country’s tourist hotspot on the Black Sea coast. Over the horizon lies Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko admits that Russian forces invaded Ukraine from Belarus at the start of the full-scale war in 2022 and reiterates his support for Russia. Despite this avowal, Lukashenko claims he supports neighboring states’ territorial integrity during a meeting with China’s defense minister in Minsk. The European
WARSAW – There is a growing belief that Poland will soon have Europe’s strongest army. Poland’s ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), has not missed any opportunity to drum this message home, and one increasingly hears it being echoed abroad, too. But is it true? The claim largely rests
For Kyiv's Motherland monument, 2023 marks an era of rebirth. In late July, the national landmark saw the Soviet hammer and sickle that once adorned its shield replaced with the tryzub, the Ukrainian trident. The rejuvenated monument was officially unveiled on Aug. 24, Ukrainian Independence Day. The decision to remove
This week, China’s defense minister touts Beijing and Minsk’s “continuously strengthening” relations during a controversial visit to Russia and Belarus. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Canada expand their sanctions against Belarus to mark the third year anniversary of the fraudulent 2020 Belarusian presidential election. A fire breaks out
After Russian dictator Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he swiftly eliminated the liberal anti-war opposition. But Putin now faces a threat from the other side – pro-war hawks who criticize Russia's political and military leadership for mishandling the war effort. As Russia's war against Ukraine
Tensions mount between Belarus, Poland, and Lithuania amid the growing presence of Wagner mercenaries and the Belarusian military’s exercises near their shared borders. Warsaw and Vilnius accuse Minsk of engineering a renewed migrant influx by forcefully funneling asylum seekers to the border. Subscribe to the Newsletter Belarus Weekly Join
Tensions rise after Belarusian helicopters cross into Polish territory, the country's state border service said on Aug. 1. Poland also alleges that around 100 Wagner mercenaries are transferred closer to the Suwalki Corridor, bringing tensions to a new high. Subscribe to the Newsletter Belarus Weekly Join us Belarusians gather over
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