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Belarus opposition leader Tikhanovsky freed from jail

Belarus opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky has been released from jail after being pardoned, Belarusian human rights group Viasna has said.

World • 21 Jun

Alexander Lukashenko speaking to foreign journalists in Minsk in July

Is Belarus trying to destabilise its EU neighbours?

Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are bolstering their border security in response to increasing activity along the Belarusian side of NATO's eastern frontier. Is Belarus "playing a game to destabilise" its EU and NATO neighbours?

World • 12 Aug 23

Mr Blaszczak said 4,000 soldiers will support the national border agency (file image)

Poland to send up to 10,000 troops to Belarus border

Poland will boost the number of troops at its eastern border with Belarus to 10,000, the defence minister said, as he warned about potential security risks from the Russian ally.

World • 10 Aug 23

A Lithuanian border guard officer stands on a checkpoint next to the Lithuania-Belarus border (File pic)

Lithuania to close two border crossings with Belarus

Lithuania will close two of its six border crossings with Belarus amid concerns over the presence of Wagner mercenaries there, the Lithuanian deputy interior minister said.

Ukraine • 04 Aug 23

Members of the Wagner mercenary group have been training troops in Belarus

Polish concern as Wagner fighters move closer to border

A group of 100 soldiers from the Russian Wagner group have moved closer to the Belarusian city of Grodno near the Polish border, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

Ukraine • 29 Jul 23

Wagner fighters seen in Rostov-on-Don during the 24 June mutiny

Belarus says deal reached with Wagner to train military

Belarus has confirmed that it had reached an agreement with Russia's Wagner group to train its troops in the near term.

Ukraine • 15 Jul 23

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (C) inspects a section of Poland's steel fence along its border with Belarus in June, 2022

Why is Poland opposed to the EU's new migration deal?

Poland's Prime Minister yesterday restated his government's opposition to a new EU deal on the relocation of migrants within the bloc. What is behind Poland's position?

Europe • 30 Jun 23

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko meeting in Sochi earlier this month

Why did Belarus' Lukashenko intervene in Wagner coup?

Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner group, who led last weekend's one-day mutiny in Russia, has arrived in Belarus. Why did Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko intervene in the dispute between the Kremlin and the mercenary group?

World • 28 Jun 23

Darya Trepova is escorted into a Moscow court for the hearing

Suspect in Russian blogger killing accused of terrorism

Russian investigators have charged Darya Trepova, a 26-year-old St Petersburg resident, with terrorist offences over the killing of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in a bomb blast last weekend.

World • 04 Apr 23

An elderly man collects wood from debris in front of a destroyed apartment building in Avdiivka earlier this month

NATO condemns Putin's 'dangerous' nuclear rhetoric

NATO has condemned Vladimir Putin for "dangerous" nuclear rhetoric after the Russian president announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, while Russian forces intensified shelling of the frontline Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.

Ukraine • 27 Mar 23

A Russian nuclear missile rolls along during a military parade marking the 75th anniversary of Nazi defeat, on 24 June 2020

EU warns Belarus against hosting Russian nuclear arms

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that Brussels was ready to impose new sanctions on Belarus if Minsk were to host Russian nuclear weapons.

Ukraine • 26 Mar 23

Russia has given Belarus Iskander-E missile launchers, pictured above, which can carry the tactical nuclear weapons

Russia to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus, President Vladimir Putin has said, marking the first time since the mid-1990s that Moscow will have based such arms outside the country.

Ukraine • 25 Mar 23

Tut.by portal was forced to shut after demonstrations against Alexander Lukashenko

Belarus jails two news site managers for 12 years

Belarus has handed long jail terms to senior staff of the country's largest independent news site, which was forced to shut down after historic demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko.

World • 17 Mar 23

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, pictured in January, at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland

Belarus sentences exiled critic to 15 years in jail

Belarus has sentenced exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya to 15 years in prison for spearheading historic protests against the former Soviet country's authoritarian leader.

World • 06 Mar 23

Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski is seen in the courtroom at the start of the hearing in Minsk in January

Belarus court jails Nobel Peace Prize winner Bialiatski

A court in Belarus has sentenced Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Ales Bialiatski to 10 years in prison for financing protests and other crimes, in a case that rights groups say was politically motivated.

World • 03 Mar 23

President Alexander Lukashenko said he was looking forward to meeting with his "old friend" Xi

Belarusian president to visit Beijing for talks with Xi

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will arrive in Beijing today, for a three-day trip in which he will meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

World • 28 Feb 23

A destroyed residential building in the town of Borodyanka, Kyiv

China urges peace as US warns against aiding Russia

China has said it sought dialogue and a peaceful solution for Ukraine despite US warnings that Beijing might be considering weapons supplies for its ally Russia's invasion.

Ukraine • 27 Feb 23

Sofia Sapega is a Russian citizen and was on the flight from Athens to Vilnius on 23 May 2021

Passenger on diverted Ryanair flight jailed in Belarus

A Belarusian court has sentenced Sofia Sapega, the girlfriend of a dissident detained after their Ryanair flight was forced to land in Belarus, to six years in prison for inciting social hatred, the Vyasna rights group said.

World • 06 May 22

The ECB instructions mean thousands of Russians and Belarusians resident in the EU face intense surveillance by their banks

ECB tells banks to watch all Russian clients - sources

European Union regulators have told some banks to scrutinise transactions by all Russian and Belarusian clients, including EU residents, to ensure that they are not used to circumvent Western sanctions against Moscow, three sources told Reuters.

Business • 16 Mar 22

IKEA has 17 stores and three production sites in Russia

IKEA closes stores in Russia, warns of higher prices

Swedish furniture giant Ikea said today it would suspend its activities in Russia and Belarus, affecting nearly 15,000 employees, 17 stores and three production sites, in response to the war in Ukraine.

Business • 03 Mar 22

A video screen grab shows BM-27 Uragan (9P140) self-propelled multiple rocket launcher systems and BMP-2 amphibious infantry fighting vehicles

Russia holds drills in Belarus amid invasion fears

Russia is holding military exercises in Belarus and the Black Sea following its troop build-up near Ukraine.

World • 10 Feb 22

The most dangerous countries were Mexico and Afghanistan, with seven and six journalist deaths respectively

Record 488 journalists imprisoned in 2021: RSF

There are currently 488 media professionals imprisoned around the world, the highest number since Reporters Without Borders began counting more than 25 years ago, the NGO announced today.

World • 16 Dec 21

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya holds a picture of her husband

Belarus jails opposition leader's husband for 18 years

Syarhei Tsikhanouski, the husband of Belarus's opposition leader, has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for organising mass unrest and inciting social hatred.

World • 14 Dec 21

Belarus said a Ukrainian helicopter crossed its border (File)

Belarus summons Ukrainian military attaché over border

The Belarusian defence ministry said it had summoned Ukraine's military attaché to protest against what it called repeated violations of Belarus' airspace by Ukrainian aircraft.

World • 05 Dec 21

Families at the Bruzgi Transport Logistical Centre, some 1.5 km northeast of the Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi border crossing

Poland says Belarus changed tactics on migrant crisis

Poland said today that Belarus has changed tactics in their border crisis by now directing smaller groups of migrants to multiple points along the European Union's eastern frontier.

World • 20 Nov 21