Belarus

World News

More Ukrainian children from Russia-held regions arrive in Belarus despite outrage

2:53pm December 28, 2023

by The Associated Press

Belarus' authoritarian president attended a government-organized meeting with children brought from Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine, openly defying an international outrage over such deportations.

Flag bearers Sofya Velikaya and Maxim Mikhaylov of Team ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) participate in the Opening Ceremony of the 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, on July 23, 2021.

Russians and Belarusians can compete in the 2024 Olympics — as neutral athletes

2:51pm December 09, 2023

by Erika Ryan

The International Olympic Committee says that qualifying athletes from the two countries will be allowed to compete in the Paris Games as "Individual Neutral Athletes."

In the middle of Poland's Bialowieza Forest, one of Europe's oldest remaining forests, stands Europe's newest border wall: a 15-foot-high metal fence topped with razor wire and security cameras. Poland finished building this fence a year ago to try to stem an influx of migrants assisted to the border by Belarusian soldiers, whose government is trying to destabilize Europe.

World News

Poland's dangerous eastern border takes center stage in upcoming elections

5:26pm October 02, 2023

by Rob Schmitz

The NATO and EU member borders Belarus, the Russian territory of Kaliningrad and Ukraine — plus a strip of land connecting it to Lithuania. It is an unstable and volatile mix of frontiers.

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The Nobel laureates and the royal family of Sweden during the Nobel Prize award ceremony at the Concert Hall in Stockholm on Dec. 10 2022. The Nobel Foundation has withdrawn its invitation for representatives of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend this year's award ceremonies.

World News

Foundation pulls invite to Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend Nobel Prize ceremonies

9:42pm September 02, 2023

by The Associated Press

Swedish lawmakers had said they would boycott this year's Nobel Prize ceremonies in Stockholm after the foundation initially invited representatives of the three countries to attend.

The Russian national flag, right, flies after it is hoisted next to the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Feb. 23, 2014.

The IOC says it will not invite Russia and Belarus to the 2024 Olympics in Paris

5:00am July 14, 2023

by Ashley Westerman

While Russia and Belarus will not receive formal invitations, the International Olympic Committee says it will not stop athletes from the two countries from participating as neutral contestants.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko says that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is still in Russia. Lukashenko is seen here at his residence, the Independence Palace, in the capital Minsk on Thursday.

World News

Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is back in Russia, says Belarus' Lukashenko

1:18pm July 06, 2023

That's in contrast to the deal worked out after the failed uprising last month. The Kremlin had said the Wagner group leader would be exiled to neighboring Belarus but would not face charges.

World News

A court in Belarus sentences a dissident journalist to 8 years in prison

10:09am May 03, 2023

by The Associated Press

Raman Pratasevich and his Russian girlfriend were arrested in May 2021 when their Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was ordered to land in the capital of Belarus, Minsk.

The national flags of countries in NATO fly outside the organization headquarters in Brussels on Monday. Finland's flag will be added to the group.

Latest on Ukraine: Russia jails a U.S. reporter, Finland to join NATO and more

11:12am April 03, 2023

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

An aerial view of Bakhmut, the site of heavy battles with Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday.

Latest in Ukraine: Putin will move tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus (March 27)

1:58pm March 27, 2023

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A howitzer is fired at a training area in the Volyn region. Ukraine is using this region, quiet for the moment, to train troops for the front line in the east.

On the border with Belarus, Ukrainian troops prep for a long war — and the front line

5:01am March 26, 2023

Russian forces crossed from Belarus into Ukraine a year ago, headed for Kyiv, before their unexpected retreat. As the war drags on, Ukraine is fortifying even the quietest stretch of this border.

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