Russian President Vladimir Putin earned fresh condemnation from President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday after moving forward with a plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring ally Belarus. Putin first described plans to move tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus in March. On Thursday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told the Russian state-owned news outlet Sputnik…

Belarus’ decision to deploy its forces alongside Russian troops is solely for defensive purposes to protect its borders, the country announced. Earlier this week, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the two nations had deployed forces together. However, he did not reveal where the military was deployed. His statement came as a bridge linking Russia to…

KYIV—Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of mass street protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko last year, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Monday, the state-run Belta news agency and the Belarusian opposition reported. Kolesnikova, 39, was detained after ripping up her passport to prevent Belarusian security forces from deporting her in a…

VILNIUS, Lithuania—Lithuania has ordered its border guards to turn away, by force if needed, migrants attempting to enter the Baltic country as the rapidly growing number of immigrants illegally crossing from neighboring Belarus has emerged as a major foreign policy issue to the small European Union nation. The Interior Ministry distributed a video footage shot…

KYIV, Ukraine—A Belarusian activist living in exile in Ukraine was found hanged in a park near his home in Kyiv early on Tuesday, and Ukrainian police said they had launched a murder case. Vitaly Shishov, who led a Kyiv-based organization that helps Belarusians fleeing persecution, had been reported missing by his partner on Monday after…

KYIV—Belarusian police searched the offices and homes of journalists and human rights activists for the third successive day on Friday, extending what rights activists say is a new crackdown on opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko. The Poland-based Nexta Live channel said the office of U.S. broadcaster Radio Liberty in the capital Minsk was among those…

KYIV—Ukraine’s government has proposed the introduction of personal sanctions against 52 Belarusian officials, including President Alexander Lukashenko’s son Viktor, the detailed text of its resolution published on Friday showed. Belarus faced a political crisis following an Aug. 9 election marred by vote-rigging allegations that led to mass protests against Lukashenko, who has been in power…

KYIV, Ukraine—A prominent opponent of Belarus’ authoritarian president was arrested Sunday after the airliner in which he was traveling was diverted to the country after a bomb threat, in what the opposition is calling a hijacking operation by the government. The presidential press service said President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered that a MiG-29 fighter jet…

BERLIN—Ten Belarusians have asked Germany’s federal prosecutor to open a criminal investigation against President Alexander Lukashenko and security officers for alleged crimes against humanity during a crackdown on protests. Lawyers who brought the case for the 10, who are now living across Europe, cited universal jurisdiction laws that allow Germany to try crimes against humanity…

KYIV—A Belarusian court sentenced a journalist to six months in prison on Tuesday for divulging medical secrets, after she contradicted official statements about the death of a protester who the authorities suggested was drunk at the time. Katerina Borisevich from the local news outlet TUT.BY had reported that there was no alcohol in the bloodstream…