Tag Archives: Alexander Lukashenko

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The deployment is Moscow’s first move of such warheads – …

Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko called today for a “truce” in Ukraine and talks “without preconditions” between Moscow and Kyiv. “We must stop now before an escalation begins. I’ll take the risk of suggesting an end of hostilities… a declaration of a truce,” Lukashenko said during a televised state of the …

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says the Islamic Republic has turned the threats posed by unilateral sanctions into an opportunity to make significant progress. Raeisi made the remarks during a press conference with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko after they met at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran on Monday. “Iran has …

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko insisted on Friday Minsk was not preparing to enter the Ukraine conflict, during a visit to inspect drones at a military center in the west of the country. The leader, a close ally of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, was shown Belarus-made drones, which he said had the …

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday he had placed his country in what he called a state of heightened terrorism alert because of tensions on its borders. Lukashenko linked the move to his announcement on Monday that he had ordered Belarusian troops to deploy with Russian forces near Belarus’s …

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that Moscow had agreed to help Minsk produce missiles, including one similar to Russia’s Iskander, as it looks to beef up its military capabilities, the state-run Belta news agency reported. Lukashenko told a meeting of defense officials that events in Ukraine had demonstrated …

Syarhei Tsikhanouski, the husband of Belarus’s opposition leader, was sentenced to 18 years in jail on Tuesday for organising mass unrest and inciting social hatred, according to the official Belta news agency. Alongside him, five supporters were tried and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 16 years. Tsikhanouski, …

Poland said on Tuesday that groups of migrants had made new attempts to cross over the border from Belarus and it would be premature to say that the worst of the crisis on the European Union’s eastern frontier was over. Border Guard spokesperson Anna Michalska said about 50 migrants tried …

The EU said Tuesday it is pressing more than a dozen countries to prevent their nationals leaving for Belarus on a perilous attempt to get into the bloc. The effort is part of Brussels’ reaction to what it says is an orchestrated campaign by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to destabilize …

France confirmed its ambassador to Belarus left the country on Oct 17, adding that the official in question – Nicolas de Lacoste – would now assume the role of special envoy in Belarus as of this Monday onwards. “France will keep on standing by the Belarus people and will look …

A court in Belarus on Monday sentenced key opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova — who led mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko last year — to 11 years in prison on national security charges. Kolesnikova’s lawyer Maxim Znak was also handed a 10-year prison sentence, according to the press service of …

President Lukashenko says the migrants Lithuania turns away will not be allowed back into Belarus. The president of Belarus has ordered the country’s security forces to tighten control over the border with Lithuania, which had begun turning away migrants attempting to cross from Belarus earlier this week. Lithuania, an EU …

A Belarusian activist was found dead in a park near his home in Kyiv early on Tuesday, a day after he was reported missing, Ukrainian police said. Vitaly Shishov, who led a Kyiv-based organisation that helps Belarusians fleeing persecution, had been reported missing by his partner on Monday after not …

A Belarusian sprinter refused to get on a flight from Tokyo on Sunday after being taken to the airport against her wishes by her team following her complaints about national coaches at the Olympic Games. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, 24, was still at Tokyo’s Haneda airport in the early hours of Monday. …

Belarus’ president Alexander Lukashenko is using migration to put political pressure on the European Union, it’s been claimed. It comes after Euronews reported migrant crossings on the Lithuania-Belarus border have soared this year. More than 1,500 illegal crossings have been registered in 2021, compared with just 81 for the whole …

The European Union is set to ban new loans to Belarus after reaching a deal on Friday for economic sanctions on Minsk as punishment for forcing down a flight to arrest a journalist, the Austrian foreign ministry and three diplomats said. Broad economic sanctions would be the EU’s strongest response …

Stoltenberg says Belarus to be punished over flight diversion as shock grows after an activist stabbed himself in Minsk court. Pressure mounted on Belarus on Wednesday as NATO’s chief called for sanctions to be implemented after Minsk’s controversial flight diversion, and as shock rose over an activist’s apparent suicide attempt …

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko flew into Russia on Friday to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin amid an uproar in Europe over the dramatic grounding of a passenger jet in Minsk and the arrest of a dissident blogger. The talks in the Black Sea city of Sochi were organised before …

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Wednesday a journalist pulled off a plane that was forced to land in Minsk had been plotting a rebellion, and he accused the West of waging a hybrid war against him. In his first public remarks since a Belarusian warplane intercepted a Ryanair flight …

Pressure mounts on Minsk as more carriers suspend flights while the journalist’s father says Protasevich has likely been beaten. More air carriers have suspended flights over Belarusian airspace in response to Minsk’s forced plane diversion, as fears grew for the journalist on board who was arrested after landing in the …