The Pigeon Express
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday told his counterpart from Belarus that Moscow would supply Minsk with missile systems capable of carrying nuclear weapons, the Russian foreign ministry said. At a meeting with Putin in St Petersburg, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko expressed concern about the “aggressive”, “confrontational” and “repulsive” policies of its neighbours Lithuania and […]
Belarus approved constitutional reforms that will allow the country to host nuclear weapons at a time when the former Soviet republic has become a launchpad for Russian troops invading Ukraine. Belarusian elections commission said that some 65.2 percent of people who took part in a referendum voted in favour of the change. The result came […]
A Belarusian opposition leader who rallied mass protests against disputed leader Alexander Lukashenko has been jailed for 18 years. Sergei Tikhanovsky was convicted of organising riots among other charges following a trial condemned as a sham. He planned to challenge Mr Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, but was detained before the vote. His wife, […]
Belarus’s threat to cut off gas supplies to Europe would be a breach of contract with Russia, President Vladimir Putin has warned. In a television interview, Mr Putin said President Alexander Lukashenko may have made the threat in a fit of temper. Mr Lukashenko is facing new sanctions over a growing migrant crisis at the […]
The Russian and Belarusian military held joint paratrooper drills, the third time this week near the Poland-Belarus border, where thousands of people are stranded in deplorable conditions, trapped at the center of an intensifying humanitarian and geopolitical crisis. On Friday, the Belarusian defense ministry said were “in connection with the buildup of military activity near […]
Belarus’s leader has threatened to cut off gas supplies to Europe if sanctions are imposed over the escalating migrant crisis at the country’s western border. Thousands of people, mostly from Iraq, Syria and Yemen, are at the border with Poland, enduring freezing conditions in the hope of crossing into the EU. European Union officials have […]
France’s ambassador to Belarus has left the country after the Belarus government ordered him out. An embassy spokesperson told AFP that ambassador Nicolas de Lacoste left the country on Sunday. He had been told to leave by Monday. Mr de Lacoste, who is 57, was posted to Minsk late last year. Local media have suggested […]
Eighty-seven people were arrested in Belarus for commenting on social media about a shoot-out that claimed two lives, a human rights group says. It is the latest crackdown by Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, since he claimed victory in discredited elections over a year ago. An IT worker and a KGB security agent were shot dead […]
The European Union banned Belarusian planes from using its airspace and accessing its airports after the forced grounding of a Ryanair flight. European airlines are also being strongly encouraged to avoid flying over the ex-Soviet country. EU states are furious at Belarus for forcing a passenger flight to land in Minsk last month and then […]
President Alexander Lukashenko has accused outside “ill-wishers” of waging a “hybrid war” against Belarus as he defended Minsk’s forced diversion of a passenger plane, an incident that led to global outrage. Belarus on Sunday forced a Ryanair flight heading from Greece to Lithuania to land in its capital in response to an alleged bomb threat. […]
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko scrambled a fighter jet to force a Ryanair flight travelling from Greece to Lithuania to land in Minsk so he could arrest a dissident journalist who is now facing the death penalty following an ‘outlandish’ bomb scare. Ryanair flight FR4978, carrying 171 passengers, had been flying from Athens to Vilnius when […]
The president of Belarus has said he will change the law on presidential succession so that the national security council, where his son plays a prominent role, assumes power in the event of a president’s death while in office. “Tell me, if there is no president tomorrow, would you guarantee everything is going to be […]