Category Archives: Belarus

Hosts Italy voice ‘absolute opposition’ to Russia flag flying at Winter Paralympics

Posted on by

  • Italian government urges IPC to reconsider its stance

  • Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under flags

Italy, the Winter Olympic hosts, has called for a reversal of the decision to let 10 Russian and Belarusian athletes compete with national flags and anthems at next month’s Paralympic Games.

The foreign minister Antonio Tajani and sports minister Andrea Abodi urged the International Paralympic Committee to reconsider its stance due to Russia’s four-year-old invasion of Ukraine, saying it contradicted the Olympic spirit.

Continue reading...

Lithuania says it will shoot down smuggling balloons from Russia’s ally Belarus

Posted on by

PM blames Alexander Lukashenko for not stopping ‘hybrid attacks’, which closed Vilnius airport four times last week

Lithuania’s prime minister has authorised the shooting down of smuggling balloons that cross the border from Russia’s ally Belarus, calling them “hybrid attacks” in an echo of the term used to describe Moscow’s destabilisation efforts.

Incursions by balloons carrying contraband cigarettes prompted the Nato and EU member state to close Vilnius airport four times last week and shut its border crossings with Belarus temporarily.

Continue reading...

Lithuania shuts airports and Belarus border after weather balloon incursion

Posted on by

Vilnius and Kaunas airports closed down after balloons drift into country’s airspace for third time this month

Lithuania closed its two biggest airports on Friday and shut crossings on its border with Belarus after helium weather balloons drifted into its territory, the third such occurrence in the Baltic state this month.

European aviation has repeatedly been thrown into chaos in recent weeks by drone sightings and other air incursions, including at airports in Copenhagen, Munich and the Baltic region.

Continue reading...

‘My husband is free!’ Belarus opposition leader freed after nearly five years in jail

Posted on by

Syarhei Tsikhanouski arrested shortly after announcing candidacy in rigged 2020 election won by Lukashenko

One of the leaders of Belarus’s opposition movement, Syarhei Tsikhanouski, has been released from jail after being pardoned after almost five years behind bars.

His wife, the exiled politician Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, who took over the opposition cause after his jailing, on Saturday shared a video of him smiling and embracing her after his release.

Continue reading...

Belarus frees three detainees including US citizen and journalist

Posted on by

Journalist with US-funded broadcaster among those in release hailed by ambassador as ‘big day for team America’

Belarus has released three detainees including a veteran journalist for a US government-funded broadcaster and a US citizen, the White House said on Wednesday.

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed the release on Wednesday of three people including “one American and two individuals from Belarus, one of whom worked for Radio Liberty”. The released American has not been identified.

Continue reading...

Belarus exit poll puts Lukashenko on 87.6% of vote in presidential election

Posted on by

Putin ally projected to easily secure seventh term in election that US and EU have said could not be free or fair

Alexander Lukashenko was firmly on track to win a seventh five-year term as Belarusian president in an election western governments have rejected as a sham.

An exit poll broadcast on state television projected that Lukashenko would take 87.6% of the vote. The close ally of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had earlier defended his jailing of dissidents and declared: “I don’t give a damn about the west.”

Continue reading...

Lukashenko says he has ‘no regrets’ about Belarus helping Russia to invade Ukraine

Posted on by

Autocrat makes comment about support for ‘older brother’ Putin as Belarusians vote in ‘sham’ presidential election

Belarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko said he had “no regrets” about allowing Russia to use his country to invade Ukraine, amid condemnation of the “sham” presidential vote almost certain to extend his 31 years of authoritarian rule.

Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said on Sunday that the vote was a “bitter day for all those who long for freedom and democracy”.

Continue reading...

Polls open in Belarus with Lukashenko’s 30-year rule set to be extended

Posted on by

The 70-year-old former collective farm boss has been in power in reclusive, Moscow-allied Belarus since 1994

Belarusians began voting on Sunday, with president Alexander Lukashenko expected to cruise to victory unchallenged for a seventh term, prolonging his three-decade authoritarian rule.

Lukashenko – a 70-year-old former collective farm boss – has been in power in reclusive, Moscow-allied Belarus since 1994.

Continue reading...

German far-right politician accused of using political prisoners as cheap labour in Belarus

Posted on by

Reports of dissenters working for £4 a day on onion plantation owned by Saxony state parliament AfD member Jörg Dornau

Midway through Nikolai’s shift sorting onions alongside other political prisoners in a warehouse in western Belarus, a tall and bald foreigner entered the building.

“He arrived in a car with German license plates. Then he came over and greeted us warmly,” Nikolai*, recalled in an interview with the Observer.

Continue reading...

Directors and actors urge Serbia not to extradite activist to Belarus

Posted on by

Dozens from European film industry and other artists write letter warning Andrei Gnyot could face death penalty

Dozens of European directors, actors and other artists have called on Serbian authorities not to extradite a Belarusian activist back to Belarus. In an open letter published on Monday, the artists warn that Andrei Gnyot faces “imprisonment, torture and even the death penalty” if sent back to Belarus.

Gnyot, a film-maker who was instrumental in organising an alliance of athletes to oppose the dictatorial rule of Alexander Lukashenko, was detained on arrival in Serbia last year after Belarus issued a warrant for his arrest on tax evasion charges via Interpol. He says the charges are political.

Continue reading...

German man sentenced to death in Belarus pardoned by president

Posted on by

Rico Krieger, found guilty on terrorism charges in case held behind closed doors, to be freed on orders of Alexander Lukashenko

A German man sentenced to death in Belarus has been pardoned by the country’s president, just a few days after news of the case became public. Rico Krieger, 30, was found guilty on terrorism charges in a case that was held behind closed doors and only became public last week.

Krieger, who formerly worked for the German Red Cross, was accused of placing explosives on a rail track in the country on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence.

Continue reading...

German national sentenced to death in Belarus, Berlin confirms

Posted on by

Secretive trial of Rico Krieger, 30, may be linked to Belarusian volunteer unit fighting alongside Ukraine against Russia

A German national has been sentenced to death in Belarus, the German foreign ministry has said, hours after a Belarusian human rights group said a German combat medic had been sentenced to death by firing squad.

The German ministry did not name its national but the Viasna Human Rights Centre said earlier on Friday that Rico Krieger, 30, had been convicted under six articles of Belarus’s criminal code in a trial held at the end of June. It said he had been in custody since November.

Continue reading...

Dutch pair face jail in Latvia after ‘helping refugees in act of compassion’

Posted on by

Group who crossed from Belarus included sister of one of the accused in case highlighting Latvia’s harsh migration laws

Two Dutch people are facing prison sentences of up to eight years in Latvia over what they say was an act of compassion to help a group of refugees reach safety, including the sister of one of the pair.

The case has put Latvia’s harsh laws on migration under the spotlight and comes as a local rights activist also faces jail time, for helping refugees who crossed into Latvia via the country’s border with neighbouring Belarus.

Continue reading...

Eagles shifting flight paths to avoid Ukraine conflict, scientists find

Posted on by

Vulnerable birds deviating from migratory routes by up to 155 miles, which could affect breeding

Eagles that have migratory routes through Ukraine have shifted their flight paths to avoid areas affected by the conflict, researchers have found.

GPS data has revealed that greater spotted eagles not only made large detours after the invasion began, but also curtailed pitstops to rest and refuel, or avoided making them altogether.

Continue reading...

Polish border ‘pushbacks’ back in spotlight after pregnant woman’s ordeal

Posted on by

Activists say little has changed in treatment of migrants and refugees under Donald Tusk’s new government

The case of a woman from Eritrea who was forced to give birth alone in the forested border area between Poland and Belarus has raised questions about the new Polish government’s response to the continuing humanitarian crisis at the border between the two countries.

The previous, rightwing government of the Law and Justice party (PiS) used the migration issue to score political points and was accused of encouraging rights abuses by guards along the border, with reports of frequent violent “pushbacks” of people to Belarus.

Continue reading...

Belarusian held in Poland suspected of ordering hammer attack on Navalny ally

Posted on by

Two Polish citizens detained earlier on suspicion of attacking Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov in Lithuania

A Belarusian national has been detained in Poland on suspicion of ordering the attack on a top Russian opposition leader, Leonid Volkov, on Moscow’s behalf, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, has announced.

Volkov, a close aide of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was briefly admitted to hospital last month after he was ambushed and attacked outside his house in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The assailant smashed open Volkov’s car window and repeatedly struck him with a hammer, breaking Volkov’s left arm and damaging his left leg before fleeing the scene.

Continue reading...

Moscow concert hall attack: fear death toll higher after reports of 100 missing

Posted on by

State investigations say they have received numerous reports as officials repeat claims that Ukraine and west involved in assault

The final death toll from the Moscow concert hall terrorist attack could be much higher than 140 confirmed dead, with Russian state investigations saying they have received 143 reports about people who had gone missing.

The investigative committee said in a statement that 84 bodies had so far been identified.

Continue reading...

Revealed: the names linked to ClothOff, the deepfake pornography app

Posted on by

Exclusive: Guardian investigation for podcast series Black Box reveals names connected to app that generated nonconsensual images of underage girls around the world

The first Miriam al-Adib learned of the pictures was when she returned home from a business trip. “Mum,” said her daughter. “I want to show you something.”

The girl, 14, opened her phone to show an explicit image of herself. “It’s a shock when you see it,” said Adib, a gynaecologist in the southern Spanish town of Almendralejo and a mother of four daughters. “The image is completely realistic … If I didn’t know my daughter’s body, I would have thought that image was real.”

Continue reading...

‘A gift to Moscow’: dismay as NYPD takes part in UAE Swat games with Chechnya and Belarus

Posted on by

Event has already been widely used as PR opportunity for notorious Chechen unit accused of war crimes in Ukraine

Led out by a beaming Adam Kadyrov, the son of the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, a group of muscular men sporting black beards strode on to the brightly illuminated stage in Dubai last week to receive gold medals and a $5,000 (£3,960) cheque.

The men were members of the notorious Chechen Akhmat Kadyrov special police regiment, a group that Ukrainian officials have said was responsible for some of the worst atrocities in the war with Russia. The unit had just won one of the contests at the international Swat Challenge games, which are held each year in the United Arab Emirates.

Continue reading...

Belarusian president signs law granting him lifelong immunity from prosecution

Posted on by

Alexander Lukashenko’s law also bars exiled opposition leaders from standing in presidential elections

The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has signed a new law granting him lifelong immunity from criminal prosecution and preventing opposition leaders living in exile from running in future presidential elections.

The law theoretically applies to any former president and members of his or her family. In reality, it is only relevant to the 69-year-old Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for almost 30 years.

Continue reading...