European Radio for Belarus, also known as Euroradio (Еврорадио), is an international radio station that provides independent news, information, and entertainment to the citizens of Belarus. It launched on February 26, 2006. ERB operates on FM, OIRT FM, Internet, and Satellite to reach the widest audience. Its staff includes around 20 people in the Warsaw office and ten journalists in the Minsk office.
Veyshnoria is a fictional state created for Zapad 2017, a joint Russo–Belarusian military training exercise. It neighbors Belarus and is an enemy of the Union State. Veyshnoria occupies most of the Grodno Region and the northwestern parts of the Minsk and Vitebsk regions.
Grodno Azot is an open joint-stock company, Belarusian state-run producer of nitrogen compounds and fertilizers located in Grodno, Belarus.
Revolutionary Action is a Belarusian organization of anarcho-communists. It is the oldest active anarchist organization in Belarus.
A constitutional referendum was held in Belarus on 27 February 2022. The referendum was ordered by President Alexander Lukashenko in January 2022. According to political analysts, changes to the Belarusian constitution were intended to solidify the power of Lukashenko's regime after the mass protests in 2020 and 2021, which challenged his rule and was brutally suppressed by police. More than 35,000 people were arrested, 1,070 of whom are acknowledged political prisoners. The changes to Constitution allow Lukashenko to remain in office until 2035 and empower the All-Belarusian People's Assembly, an extra-parliamentary body dominated by government supporters. The changes also renounced Belarus's nuclear-free zone status, allowing Belarus to host nuclear weapons for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union; the lead-up to the referendum occurred as Russia amassed its troops in both Russia and Belarus in the prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the election itself was held several days after Russia began its military offensive into Ukraine.
Aliaksandr Shakutsin is a Belarusian businessman, allegedly close to Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. Media widely characterize Shakutsin as an oligarch. On 17 December 2020, the Council of the European Union imposed sanctions on him.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has supported its eastern neighbour in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before the start of the offensive, Belarus allowed the Russian Armed Forces to perform weeks-long military drills on its territory; however, the Russian troops did not exit the country after they were supposed to finish. Belarus allowed Russia to stage part of the invasion from its territory, giving Russia the shortest possible land route to Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. However, these forces withdrew within two months, thus ceasing land-based military operations originating from Belarus and resulting in the recapture of the Ukrainian side of the border region by Ukraine. Despite this, the situation along the border remains tense, with Ukraine closing the border checkpoints leading into Belarus, bar special cases.
Sasha Filipenko is a Belarusian writer, journalist, and TV show host. His books were translated into more than 15 languages. His play The Ex-son was banned in Belarus and premiered in Kyiv, Ukraine, instead. In 2021 PEN International declared Filipenko a victim of censorship. He currently lives in Switzerland with his wife and son, since it is dangerous for him to come back to Belarus. For openly opposing Alexander Lukashenko and supporting Maria Kalesnikava Filipenko can be prosecuted - official press mentions quotes of the Criminal Code that can be applied to Filipenko.
On 7 April 2022, Pavel Alexandrovich Pernikaŭ, a 30-year-old Belarusian human rights activist and Wikipedia editor, was sentenced to two years imprisonment for "discrediting the Republic of Belarus" by making two edits to Wikipedia about political repression in Belarus and posting one article to the website of a human rights organization about torture and extra-judicial killings in Belarusian detention centers. Days after his imprisonment, he was recognized as a political prisoner by Belarusian human rights organizations.
"And now I will show you, where they were preparing the attack on Belarus from" is a phrase widely spread on Russophone internet communities said by Alexander Lukashenko, which attempts to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine in regards to Belarus. The phrase subsequently became very popular in many countries of the former Soviet Union and started being used as a meme in various videos from mid-March 2022.
Alexey Valeryevich Dzermant, sometimes published as Derman, also Dermant or Dzermanis — is a Belarusian philosopher, journalist and political observer, characterized in non-governmental media as a pro-government political analyst. Until the early 2010s, he was an activist of the neo-pagan movement; currently he is an Orthodox Christian and staunch supporter of Eurasianism.
The Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists is a militant anarcho-communist organization in Eastern Europe, part of the Belarusian and Russian partisan movement. It aims for social revolution and a libertarian socialist society. Since the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has sabotaged railway infrastructure in Russia and Belarus, as well as attacking Russian military commissariats and telecommunications. According to The Insider, the group has become "the most active 'subversive' force" in Russia since the war began.
A series of Molotov cocktail arson attacks and shootings have taken place in Russian military commissariat registration and enlistment offices since the start of the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Other governmental buildings have also been attacked in multiple regions of Russia. Part of the Russian partisan and anti-war movements, the attacks were spurred by several factors, including the outbreak of the invasion of Ukraine, the deployment of Russian conscripts to the front line, the start of spring conscription, and rumors about possible mobilization in the country, which were later found to be true. Commissariat offices recruit servicemen to the Russian Army and choose who is eligible and ineligible for service. The attacks are not a single coordinated campaign; behind them are a variety of people, from left-wing anarchists and scammers to far-right groups and assorted lone wolf actors.
Pro-democratic and pro-Ukrainian partisan movements have emerged in Belarus and Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War. These resistance movements act against the authoritarian governments of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus and Vladimir Putin in Russia, as well as against civilian supporters of these authorities and the armed forces of both countries, with the aim of stopping the war.
Stop the Wagons is a Russian anti-war movement that engaged in sabotaging Russian railways in various ways to prevent the transport of equipment, fuel, ammunition and other supplies to the war in Ukraine.
The Association of Security Forces of Belarus, also known as BYPOL, is a Belarusian organization that was created by former employees of law enforcement agencies to counter the Belarusian authorities. The association has channels on YouTube and Telegram, on which it publishes various videos related to the security forces, and also doxes law enforcement officers.
Community of Railway Workers of Belarus is a Belarusian opposition initiative of railway workers, recognized by the Belarusian authorities as an extremist formation.
The rail war began in different regions of Russia in the spring of 2022 after a similar rail war in Belarus.
Busły liaciać is a Belarusian opposition resistance group founded on 13 November 2020 and fighting against the Alexander Lukashenko government. Included together with the Cyber Partisans in the association "Supraciŭ".
On February 26, 2023, at the Machulishchy military airfield, around 12 kilometers from Minsk, a Russian A-50 early warning military aircraft was damaged as a result of explosions. BYPOL claimed responsibility for the drone attack. Alyaksandr Lukashenko acknowledged the attack only a week later, stating that the damage to the aircraft was minor. Later, he admitted that the A-50 still had to be sent to Russia for repairs.
