#Belarus Another blow to Belarusian culture. In Minsk, the regime detained Andrei Kim - founder of the Belarusian film project Kinakong - and his wife. They brought movies and cartoons to audiences in the Belarusian language, translating and filling cinemas across the country.

#Belarus Mass detentions of publishers and booksellers in Minsk this week, reported by the Belarusian outlet Nasha Niva. Don't get blindsided by talk of "dialogue" or "sanctions relief." The regime is still crushing Belarusian culture and civil society. Repression hasn't paused. It continues.

Relevant for #Belarus. To all foreign experts who gladly travel to Minsk, meet with the Lukashenka MFA, and then promote narratives about "renewing relations" with the regime: With all due respect - wake up. You are either misinformed or you are fed with lies and manipulated.

#Ukraine It's astonishing to hear Putin wants to end the war. The plan was the seizure of Kyiv via Hostomel, assassination of Zelenskyy and installation of a pro-Russian regime. Failing to achieve those goals is a defeat. He isn't seeking peace - he's trying to avoid losing.

#Belarus New details have emerged about the release and health condition of Mikola Statkevich, who suffered a serious stroke while in detention.

#Belarus The Lukashenka MFA complained that the regime’s delegation didn’t go to the US for the #boardofpeace because they didn’t get visas. That’s only fair: the regime deprives people of freedom and has nothing to do with peace by supporting Russia’s war. It’s also funny 🤭

#Belarus's deputy prosecutor "joked" that people who "have been released are only free temporarily." When freedom is treated as a temporary glitch, not a right, it tells you everything about the system. Repression is the policy. Can you imagine this cynicism?

#Belarus This has become public. Mikola Statkevich, who refused deportation and was arrested again, is now free. Sadly, he suffered a stroke while behind bars and now needs time to recover. Only after a stroke & torture does this regime allow a prisoner to return to his family.

Grateful to Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's FM, for his clear stance: #Ukraine believes in a European future for #Belarus - after liberation from Lukashenka's rule - and calls on partners to increase pressure for his crimes committed alongside Putin and for the repression of Belarusians.

#Belarus Today #Ukraine imposed new sanctions against Lukashenka & will intensify efforts against all forms of his support for Russia's war. Ukraine has documented the involvement of more than 3,000 Belarusian enterprises supporting Russia's military-industrial complex.

#Belarus' GDP fell by 1.2% in January 2026. Industrial output is shrinking. Growth targets already look shaky. This is exactly the moment to increase pressure on the regime, not ease it. It's working. Only a strong position in negotiations forces Lukashenka to compromise.

#Belarus BelPol has published a list of Belarusian companies helping sustain Russia's war against #Ukraine - from military manufacturers to sanctions-evasion networks & banks financing the supply chains. This first release names 120 companies & more are expected to follow. belpol.pro/en/kto-v-bel...

Lukashenka will not personally attend the #BoardOfPeace meeting in Washington - his foreign minister will attend instead. Any legitimization of his regime without genuine reform, the release of all political prisoners & an end to repression will only strengthen his regime.

I'm excited to attend the Munich Security Conference as a Young Leader this year. Ensuring the participation of Belarusians in exile is essential. We must be able to explain the reality in Belarus and counter the spread of authoritarianism that threatens European security as a whole. #MSC2026

Reposting this from seven years ago, because it makes more sense now than ever. And because I can't go there. Minsk, #Belarus - my neighbourhood. "The place where I grew up. My somewhat sullen and rebellious spirit, I believe, is a natural result of this."

You can now read my latest @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social article on Transitions Online, which kindly republished it. Glad we're spreading the message and contributing to discussions on both #Ukraine and #Belarus. tol.org/client/artic...

#Belarus A former political prisoner described how he was arrested in Belarus in 2022 after posting political and anti-war comments online. Security forces, fully armed, came to his apartment, pretending to be a local police officer checking a minor incident in the neighborhood.

Strong and clear message from Latvia's award-winning caricaturist, Gatis Šļūka.

#Belarus Trzy lata temu ogłoszono wyrok wobec Andrzeja Poczobuta. Za kratami jest już niemal pięć lat. W 2023 roku reżim Łukaszenki skazał go na 8 lat kolonii karnej o zaostrzonym rygorze. Andrzej musi zostać natychmiast i bezwarunkowo uwolniony.

#Belarus No transit of potash. No lifting EU sanctions. Don't sell illusions that it will "stabilise" the regime. What it stabilises is its capacity for provocations. Sanctions don't topple regimes but they contain them: raising repression costs and shrinking military capacity.

#Belarus Someone who lived his life quietly - driving a bus, loving motorcycles, picking mushrooms, raising a family - is sent to prison for LIKES on social media. Andrei Shmayankou, 52, from Mahiliou, reacted to a few posts in 2020. The regime found him - and jailed him.

Minsk - and many cities in #Belarus - have always been darker than almost anywhere in Europe. Turns out even that was too much. After Lukashenka complained about lighting costs, street lights were switched on later, leaving people walking home in near darkness. Symbolic.

An update: I am honoured and humbled to have been selected as a Young Leader from #Belarus this year at the Munich Security Conference. I am looking forward to engaging in discussions on the most crucial topics and meeting colleagues from around the world. securityconference.org/en/munich-yo...

Reports say Russia used Belarusian airspace overnight to attack #Ukraine. One Russian ballistic missile reportedly flew over #Belarus's Dobrush district around 02:40 on Feb 3. Source: Belarusian media, citing Ukrainian monitoring channels: t.me/flagshtok/14...

#Belarus has no coastline - yet in 2025 it became Russia's largest fish supplier, outpacing China, Turkey and Chile. 112,000 tons exported, $336M earned. Belarus can re-export fish to Russia, with Lukashenka family allies building new plants and buying old ones.

Yesterday he was tortured in Lukashenka's prison. Today he's in Kyiv helping Ukrainians. Aliaksei Kaplich - one of #Belarus's youngest former political prisoners, deported by the regime - is now volunteering at a Belarusian aid hub. He is Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's relative.

#Ukraine A Russian strike drone hit a bus carrying miners home from their shift in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region. The bus caught fire. 15 people were killed, others injured. Another deliberate attack on civilians and critical energy workers.

#Russia fined a man for posting a famous Queen photo from I Want to Break Free - ruled "LGBT propaganda." The court says it's not about music. Censorship has entered its parody phase.

This is also why the #Belarus issue cannot be "frozen" - and why Lukashenka cannot be legitimised, sanctions lifted or engagement normalised.

"Objects" from #Belarus entered Polish airspace overnight. Polish forces call it another hybrid incident. This is what integration with Russia looks like: Belarus as a launchpad for instability on the EU's eastern border.

Human rights defenders report increased pressure on political prisoners. Artsiom Liabedzka has been sent to a punishment cell as temperatures in #Belarus drop to nearly -30C at night. This is torture. Artsiom Liabedzka is the son of opposition politician Anatol Liabedzka.

I also have my latest Atlantic Council article translated into Ukrainian. I'm glad to see the message spreading - our fight is stronger when we unite our forces. #Ukraine needs support, and so does a free #Belarus. nv.ua/ukr/opinion/...

Дарагая Салідарнасць пераклала мой апошні артыкул пра сустрэчу Зяленскага і Ціханоўскай на расейскую. Калі каму прасцей чытаць так - запрашаю. Разважаю пра Украіну і Еўразвяз, а таксама будучыню Беларусі. gazetaby.com/post/belarus...

#Ukraine I also want to say this: I end almost every message to my Ukrainian colleagues - even work emails - with the same words: I hope you are safe. Because the war isn't a headline. It's happening every day.

#Belarus Zelenskyy meets Tsikhanouskaya for the first time - a clear signal Kyiv is ready to engage the exiled Belarusian opposition and hold Lukashenka’s regime accountable. A turning point in regional strategy. My latest for the Atlantic Council www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrain...

There is no basis to talk about a decrease in repression in #Belarus - the situation is getting worse. Even the release of some political prisoners doesn't mean less pressure: dismissals, workplace coercion & "social risk" labeling are repression 👉 Belarusian Helsinki Committee

#Belarus It's deeply troubling to hear Maria Kalesnikava argue that sanctions don't affect Lukashenka. Sanctions were exactly the leverage that made her release possible - that was the price offered. This wasn't a sudden act of mercy.

To my friends in Washington: please attend this hearing on the human rights situation in #Belarus. It's crucial to shed light on torture, political prisoners and state terror. Lukashenka is not changing or reforming - pressure matters: humanrightscommission.house.gov/events/heari...

Ales Bialiatski, @nobelprize.org Prize laureate from #Belarus, speaks with clarity - and we should listen. There was no period of "normality" under Lukashenka, and the Belarusian regime understands only pressure.

Another dictator who feels untouchable sits in Minsk. Around 40 weather balloons crossed into Lithuania from #Belarus overnight, forcing Vilnius Airport to close three times.

#Belarus Prominent journalist, poet and political prisoner Andrei Aliaksandrau marks his 6th birthday behind bars. Outrageously unfair - he was sentenced to 14 years just for being a journalist. Free press and free speech are what Lukashenka truly fears.

#Ukraine's FM Andrii Sybiha confirmed Kyiv plans to hold Lukashenka accountable for aiding Russia's war and to push sanctions on #Belarus. Minsk publicly shrugs it off - which usually means the opposite: urgent concern.

#Ukraine I can’t imagine living in a freezing apartment, with nowhere else to go. Russia is demoralising, destroying Ukrainians, and there are still no real consequences for what it’s doing right now. It’s -4C in Kyiv today, and it will get colder again next week. There must be a response to that.

The Kalinouski Regiment has announced the deaths of three Belarusian fighters, killed exactly one year ago on the Zaporizhzhia front. Previously unreported officially, one fallen hero's words resonate: "As long as I'm able to carry out combat tasks, I will continue to do them."

Without a free and democratic #Belarus, neither Europe nor Ukraine are truly safe.

This must also be remembered: "No need to divide #Belarus and Russia - we're already hard to separate." - Lukashenka, Jan 19, 2026. Official sources. That's not integration. That's surrender. He's made his choice.

#Belarus Historic: the first bilateral meeting between Tsikhanouskaya & Zelenskyy in Vilnius. An important step for both nations, as our struggles are intertwined. Russia's defeat in #Ukraine - and in Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and beyond - will strengthen all democracies.

I am glad that Tsikhanouskaya and Zelenskyy could meet and have a conversation. Most Belarusians were against the attacks of Ukraine from the territory of #Belarus. We stand with #Ukraine that is freezing due to Russia’s shelling and attacks. Ukraine must get all the tangible support.

In Lithuania, the 1863-1864 Uprising was commemorated by the presidents of Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland, along with Belarus democratic leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. I am especially grateful to Zelenskyy for coming and for emphasizing that #Belarus must be free and that we are a European nation.

#Belarus Her name is Yanina Pazniak, she is the daughter of a journalist Kiryl Pazniak, who was arrested in September last year. That’s when 20-year-old Yanina was arrested as well. She has been recognised as a political prisoner. The regime accuses her of “extremism.”