Belarus

• July 02, 2025

  A Journalist In Jail: Freed Former RFE/RL Reporter Recalls Belarus Prison Ordeal

  Longtime former RFE/RL journalist Ihar Karnei was arrested in July 2023 after the KGB came to his home in Belarus. Freed in a US-brokered inmate release last month, he describes the “inhuman conditions” still faced by what rights activists say are nearly 1,200 political prisoners in Belarus.

• June 25, 2025

  5 Years Later, RFE/RL Journalist Losik Still Behind Bars On Charges Seen As Trumped Up

  With opposition voices rising before a presidential election in August 2020, Belarus leader Aleksandr Lukashenko began doing what threatened authoritarians do: rounding people up, especially those who had a voice or a platform. On June 25, 2020, RFE/RL Journalist Ihar Losik was one of them.

• June 21, 2025

  Former RFE/RL Reporter, Opposition Candidate Among Prisoners Freed By Belarus

  Belarus has released 14 prisoners in a deal reached with the cooperation of the Lithuanian government. Among them were Ihar Karnei, a former RFE/RL journalist who was arrested in 2023, and Siarhei Tsikhakhouski, who was imprisoned while trying to run against Belarus's authoritarian leader.

• June 21, 2025

  Belarus Releases 14 Prisoners Including Opposition Politician Tsikhanouski, Journalist Karnei

  Belarus has released 14 prisoners, including  Syarhey Tsikhanouski, who was detained in May 2020 while attempting to run for president against authoritarian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko. 

• June 11, 2025

  Hundreds Of Russian Soldiers Treated In Belarusian Hospitals, Investigation Finds

  Hundreds of Russian soldiers wounded in the Ukraine war have been treated in Belarusian hospitals, including some from military units linked to alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

• May 27, 2025

  EU Boosts Its Defense And Targets Russian Fertilizers

  I'm RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, and this week I am drilling down on two issues: the EU’s attempt to ramp up its defense and the bloc finally hitting Russian fertilizers

• May 25, 2025

  Tsikhanouskaya Urges Baltic States Not To Close Belarus Border Despite Growing Migrant Pressure

  Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya urges Latvia and Lithuania to keep borders with Belarus open, warning that full closure could cut off escape routes for dissidents. She also highlights the plight of political prisoners and Minsk’s role in regional instability

• May 25, 2025

  Tsikhanouskaya Urges Baltic Nations To Keep Borders Open With Belarus

  Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called on Latvia and Lithuania to keep their borders open with neighboring Belarus.

• May 20, 2025

  Putin Doesn't Seem Ready For Peace, Says Lithuanian Foreign Minister

  The Lithuanian foreign minister Kęstutis Budrys has cast doubts on whether the Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to commit to a ceasefire in the Ukraine war anytime soon.

• May 09, 2025

  Brother Of Imprisoned RFE/RL Journalist Ihar Losik Also Jailed In Belarus

  The younger brother of imprisoned Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Ihar Losik was detained in April and remains in jail in his native Belarus on extremism charges related to Russia's war against Ukraine, according to a rights group and RFE/RL sources.

• April 30, 2025

  Belarus Frees US Political Prisoner Yuras Zyankovich After Nearly 4 Years In Prison

  U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced via social media that American citizen of Belarusian origin Yuras Zyankovich has been released from prison in Belarus after more than three and a half years behind bars.

• April 23, 2025

  Lithuania Accuses Russia, Belarus Of Plotting Violent Attacks On Belarusian Exiles

  Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) says it has uncovered a covert operation by Russian and Belarusian intelligence services aimed at inciting violence against Belarusian exiles living in Lithuania.

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