Category Archives: Belarus

We knew in 2011 Putin would attack Ukraine, says Bill Clinton

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Revelation raises questions about whether US and Europe should have been more prepared for 2014 invasion

Vladimir Putin told Bill Clinton three years before his 2014 attack on Ukraine that he was not bound by the Budapest Memorandum guaranteeing the country’s territorial integrity, according to the former US president.

The revelation raises questions about whether the US and its European allies should have been more prepared for the 2014 attack, when Russia annexed Crimea and attacked the Donbas.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow to station nuclear weapons near Belarus’s western border, envoy says

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As it happened: US government ‘keenly, strongly, closely’ tracking Evan Gershkovich’s detention; IAEA chief Rafael Grossi expected to visit on Wednesday

The Russian state-owned news agency Tass is reporting an explosion in occupied Melitopol. It reports the city administration said a car was blown up in the city centre, and that one person was injured.

The Telegram channel of the Russian-imposed authority in the city has named the injured person as Maxim Zubarev, the head of the occupying authority in the Yakymivka settlement in the region. This is unconfirmed.

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Russian man whose daughter drew anti-war pictures is detained after fleeing

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Alexei Moskalyov had been jailed for two years after investigation triggered by 13-year-old’s drawings

A Russian man who fled house arrest after being sentenced to two years in prison for discrediting Russia in social media posts, following an investigation prompted by his daughter’s anti-war drawings, has been arrested, his lawyer said.

“He has been detained, yes,” Dmitry Zakhvatov told Reuters, without providing more details.

Alexei Moskalyov was sentenced to two years in prison as punishment for his criticism of Kremlin policies in social media posts. Police investigated him after his 13-year-old daughter, Maria, refused to participate in a patriotic class at her school and made drawings showing rockets being fired at a family standing under a Ukrainian flag and another that said “Glory to Ukraine!”

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Russia-Ukraine war: UN warns of ‘very dangerous’ situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – as it happened

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This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports on its official Telegram channel that this morning the border village of Chernatske in Sumy oblast has been struck. It writes: “Twenty hits were recorded, probably from barrel artillery. The infrastructure of the village was damaged – a cultural centre and a children’s playground, as well as five private houses.”

The UK Ministry of Defence says Russia’s 10th tank regiment has borne the brunt of the assault of Avdiivka and has likely lost a “large portion of its tanks” while attempting to surround the town from the south.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin’s plan to station nuclear weapons in Belarus ‘irresponsible’ and ‘escalatory’, says Germany

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Berlin says Moscow’s announcement is ‘another attempt at nuclear intimidation’

Russia plans to complete coastal infrastructure needed to host nuclear submarines in the Pacific Ocean, Tass news agency reported on Monday.

The nuclear submarines will be capable of carrying the Poseidon nuclear-capable super torpedos first produced in January, four years after they were announced.

A policy of dramatic fiscal austerity that comes at the expense of the fabric of Ukrainian society and the state will have huge long-run costs. The EU, the United States and other outside supporters can soften this dilemma best a. by providing more generous funding and b. by urging Kyiv towards a strategy of civilian as well as military state-building, not by replacing domestic national institutions with international agencies, but by promoting the mobilization of local institutions and agencies.

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Putin’s timeline for storing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus is hard to believe

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Although Alexander Lukashenko has agreed to host nuclear bases little construction work seems to have started

Like a lot of what Vladimir Putin says about nuclear weapons, his suggestion that Russia would start storing its bombs in Belarus may add up to less than it appears.

In February last year, Putin said he was putting Russia’s nuclear arsenal on high alert, but there was no perceptible change in the country’s nuclear posture, or any unusual movements of its weapons.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Russian plans for nuclear weapons in Belarus ‘dangerous and irresponsible’ – as it happened

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Senior US administration official says there are no signs Moscow intends to use its nuclear weapons

Ukrainian refugees are increasingly being targeted for sexual exploitation with an increase in interest in pornography claiming to feature refugees from the war-torn country, according to research.

Thomson Reuters has conducted the research, which has found that Ukrainian refugees may be victims of both traffickers on the ground and cyber-voyeurs.

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Russia accused of taking Belarus ‘nuclear hostage’ with deal to station missiles there

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Ukraine says Putin’s deal to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus destabilises neighbour

Ukraine has accused Russia of destabilising Belarus and making its smaller neighbour into “a nuclear hostage”, after Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Moscow has made a deal to station tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory.

The country’s opposition leader in exile, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said the move “grossly contradicts the will of the Belarusian people” and reflected the further subjugation of Belarus under Russian control.

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Russia to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

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Deal with allied neighbour will not violate non-proliferation agreements, Putin says

Russia has reached an agreement with Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons on its smaller neighbour’s territory, so bringing some of its arsenal closer to the rest of Europe, Vladimir Putin has said.

The Russian president made the announcement on state television, arguing that it would not breach non-proliferation agreements and that it would match similar arrangements that the US has with several of its European allies.

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Belarus jails senior staff at independent news site in crackdown on Lukashenko critics

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Twelve-year sentences for the women condemned as president’s ‘revenge’ while UN report accuses country of possible crimes against humanity

Belarus has handed long jail terms to senior staff at the country’s largest independent news site, which was forced to close after historic demonstrations against strongman Alexander Lukashenko over two years ago.

The verdicts are the latest in a crackdown on journalists, opposition figures and activists who challenged Lukashenko’s claim that he won a sixth presidential term in 2020.

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Belarus jails Nobel peace prize-winning dissident Ales Bialiatski

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Pro-democracy activist sentenced to 10 years as part of Alexander Lukashenko’s purge of opponents

Belarus has sentenced the Nobel peace prize-winning dissident Ales Bialiatski to 10 years in prison as part of Alexander Lukashenko’s purge of opponents after the 2020 pro-democracy protests against his rule.

Bialiatski, a pro-democracy activist, is the founder of Viasna, the authoritarian country’s most prominent human rights group. He was detained in July last year and charged with smuggling cash into Belarus to fund his group’s activities, but is widely recognised as being persecuted for his opposition to Lukashenko.

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Belarus partisans say they blew up Russian plane near Minsk

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Group says it used drones to hit early warning aircraft at Machulishchy airfield 12km from Minsk

Belarusian anti-war partisans claim to have severely damaged a Russian military aircraft in what an opposition leader has called the “most successful diversion” since the beginning of the war.

BYPOL, the Belarusian partisan organisation, said it had used drones to strike the Machulishchy airfield 12km from Minsk, severely damaging a Beriev A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft (Awacs).

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Russia and Belarus extend military drills amid fears of new push into Ukraine

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Weapons, soldiers and equipment added to exercises, as concern grows Minsk is being pressured to join war

Russia and Belarus have expanded their joint military training exercises in Belarus, the country’s defence TV channel said on Sunday, as concern grows that Moscow is pressuring its closest ally to join the war in Ukraine.

The two countries added weapons, soldiers and specialised equipment to the exercises and were doing drills drawing on Russian experience in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

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‘Extreme event’: warm January weather breaks records across Europe

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At least eight countries experience record high temperatures of ‘almost unheard of’ heat, say meteorologists

Weather records have been falling across Europe at a disconcerting rate in the last few days, say meteorologists.

The warmest January day ever was recorded in at least eight European countries including Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia, according to data collated by Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist who tracks extreme temperatures.

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Jailed Belarus opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova ‘in intensive care’

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‘Our dear Masha, we all hope that you will be alright!’ said Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of trio of women who led 2020 protests

The jailed Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova has been admitted to intensive care and undergone surgery, her allies have said.

“Maria is in the emergency hospital in Gomel, in the intensive care unit,” said the press service of Viktor Babaryko, another opposition politician.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: UK confirms supply of missiles to Kyiv as Russian forces might be preparing to leave Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

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UK MoD says it has provided Brimstone 2 missiles to Ukraine; reports suggest there are signs troops could be getting ready to leave

The Belgium prime minister, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, is on the second day of an unannounced visit to Ukraine.

Accompanied by Belgian foreign minister, Hadja Lahbib, De Croo used the visit to announce additional Belgian support of around 37.4 million euros.

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Belarus jails opposition activists on charges of terrorism and treason

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Nikolai Avtukhovich, leader of group, sentenced to 25 years, says human rights NGO Viasna

A Belarus court has handed down prison sentences ranging from two-and-a-half to 25 years to a dozen opposition activists accused of terrorism and treason, the human rights NGO Viasna has said.

Nikolai Avtukhovich, the leader of the activist group, had been sentenced to 25 years, Viasna said on Telegram, in one of the heaviest sentences handed down recently in the reclusive country.

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Russian strikes fail to disable Ukraine’s energy infrastructure

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Drones and missiles hit Kyiv region and Zaporizhzhia as Ukrainian forces make gains around Kherson

Russia has continued to try to hit Ukrainian’s energy infrastructure but Vladimir Putin’s forces did not appear to have enjoyed any significant success.

One missile seriously damaged a key energy facility in the region around Ukraine’s capital and 10 missiles and four drones hit locations in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

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