Category Archives: Belarus

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.”

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

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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.

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Belarusian president signs law granting him lifelong immunity from prosecution

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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.

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EU plans fresh Russia sanctions including against son of Dmitry Medvedev

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Proposals aimed at choking off commercial revenues include total ban on sale of Russian rough diamonds

The European Commission is proposing a 12th round of sanctions against Moscow, including restrictions on scores of individuals apparently including the son of the former president Dmitry Medvedev and a relative of Vladimir Putin’s.

Among the 47 individuals the commission wants added to existing sanctions lists are Putin’s cousin Anna Tsivileva, who chairs the “defenders of the fatherland” foundation that supports Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

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Belarus leader proposes three-way partnership with Russia and North Korea

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Alexander Lukashenko put forward axis plan during summit with Vladimir Putin in Sochi as rumours of arms deal persist

Alexander Lukashenko has expressed interest in creating a trilateral partnership with Russia and North Korea amid rumours that Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un were negotiating an arms deal to sustain Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Belarusian leader made the remarks during a summit with Putin in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, where the two held their seventh face-to-face meeting this year.

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Nobel Foundation reverses decision to invite Russian ambassador to awards

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Foundation backtracks on earlier announcement that representatives from Russia, Belarus and Iran would be invited

The Nobel Foundation has reversed its decision to invite ambassadors from Russia and Belarus to this year’s Nobel awards ceremony in Stockholm after the invitation sparked anger.

In 2022, the Nobel Foundation, which organises the annual Nobel prize ceremony and banquet in Stockholm, decided not to invite the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors to the awards event because of the war in Ukraine.

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Polish prime minister to hold referendum on EU’s immigration plan

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Mateusz Morawiecki to ask voters if they want to accept ‘thousands of illegal immigrants’ under the bloc’s proposed new rules

Poland’s rightwing prime minister has said he will go ahead with a referendum on EU migration reforms, in which voters will be asked if they are willing to accept “thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa”.

Mateusz Morawiecki announced in a video published online on Sunday that the referendum would coincide with a parliamentary election on 15 October. Migration and security will be central topics of the election, as Morawiecki’s ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), seeks to retain power.

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Tensions rise as Belarus begins military drills near Poland and Lithuania

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Leaders of the two Nato countries say they expect provocations from their neighbouring Russian ally and Wagner fighters

Belarus has begun military exercises near its border with Poland and Lithuania, as tensions heighten with the two Nato members over Russia-linked Wagner mercenaries who moved to Belarus after their short-lived mutiny in Russia.

Both Poland and Lithuania have increased border security since thousands of Wagner fighters arrived in Russia-allied Belarus under a deal that ended their armed rebellion in late June and allowed them and their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, to avoid criminal charges.

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Warsaw sends troops to border, accusing Belarus of violating its airspace

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Polish military says army helicopters crossed eastern flank, adding to tensions caused by proximity of Wagner fighters

Poland has rushed troops to its eastern border after accusing Belarus, Russia’s closest ally, of violating its airspace with military helicopters.

The Belarusian military denied any such violation and accused Poland, a Nato member and one of Ukraine’s most fervent backers in its conflict with Russia, of inventing the accusation to justify a buildup of its troops.

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Lithuania and Poland ‘may close Belarus borders’ due to Wagner fighters

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Lithuania says move may be needed as Poland warns mercenaries are in Belarus to bring crisis to neighbours

Poland and Lithuania are considering closing their respective borders with Belarus amid concerns over the presence there of the Wagner mercenary group, a Lithuanian deputy interior minister said on Friday.

“The considerations are real. The possibility of closing the border exists,” Arnoldas Abramavičius told reporters.

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Putin warns Poland against ‘unleashing aggression’ against Belarus

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Russian president reacts angrily after Polish defence minister sends troops to guard eastern border

Vladimir Putin has said Russia will use “all means at its disposal” to defend Belarus after Poland and other EU countries voiced concerns about the deployment of Russian paramilitaries near their borders.

Putin delivered a series of aggressive remarks during a meeting of his security council, where he claimed without evidence that Poland was seeking to invade Belarus, a Russian ally, and that their elites were “dreaming of Belarusian lands”.

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Belarus Red Cross says it is involved in transfer of children out of Ukraine

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Claims from head of organisation spark outrage in Kyiv and from the International Federation of Red and Red Crescent Societies

The Belarus Red Cross has sparked international outrage after its chief told Belarusian state television that the organisation is actively involved in bringing Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied areas to Belarus.

Both Ukraine and the Belarusian opposition have labelled the transfers unlawful deportations, and there have been calls for international war crimes charges for the authoritarian Belarus leader, similar to the charges against Russian president Vladimir Putin.

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Video appears to show Wagner chief for first time since aborted mutiny

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Footage released on Telegram is said to show Yevgeny Prigozhin addressing fighters in Belarus

A video has appeared purporting to show the mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin addressing his fighters in Belarus and calling the Russian war effort in Ukraine a “disgrace”, in the first footage of the Russian warlord to emerge since his mutiny last month.

The video, which was published by two Telegram channels affiliated with the Wagner mercenary company, showed a man who resembled and sounded like Prigozhin telling his fighters: “Welcome to the Belarusian land! We have fought with dignity. We have done very much for Russia!”

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Belarus arrests prominent journalist amid wider crackdown on opposition figures

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Ihar Karnei was detained and his apartment raided with police seizing phones and computers, according to his daughter

Authorities in Belarus have arrested a prominent journalist who has previously written for the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the latest step in a years-long crackdown on opposition figures, independent journalists and human rights activists.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists said Ihar Karnei, 55, was arrested in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, on Monday. His apartment was raided, with police seizing phones and computers, his daughter, Polina, told the Associated Press.

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Putin says he tried but failed to oust Prigozhin after Wagner mutiny

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President tells newspaper he met mercenary chief to negotiate terms for fighters’ continued participation in Ukraine war

Vladimir Putin has said that he sought and failed to have Yevgeny Prigozhin replaced as the leader of Wagner’s fighters in Ukraine after the mercenary chief rebuffed his proposal during a meeting at the Kremlin this month.

Putin’s version of events, which appeared in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper, was a surprise admission that the Russian president was still negotiating a takeover of the Wagner mercenary group.

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Anti-Lukashenko artist Ales Pushkin dies in Belarus prison aged 57

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Artist who once depicted authoritarian leader in hell died in ‘unclear circumstances’, his wife says

A Belarusian artist who once dumped manure outside the office of the president, Alexander Lukashenko, has died in prison, where he was serving a five-year sentence.

Ales Pushkin died in the prison in Grodno in western Belarus of an unknown cause, even though the 57-year-old was not known to be sick, the Viasna human rights centre said on Tuesday.

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Wagner boss met Vladimir Putin five days after mutiny, Kremlin says

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Russian president’s spokesperson says Yevgeny Prigozhin among 35 of group’s commanders invited to Moscow

The Kremlin has said the Wagner group head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, met Vladimir Putin on 29 June, five days after his mercenary fighters marched towards Moscow in an aborted rebellion.

The Russian president’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that Putin invited 35 senior Wagner commanders including Prigozhin to the Kremlin, adding that the meeting lasted three hours.

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