World Crisis Chronology
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BELARUS

08/16/2023
Lithuania closes some border crossings with Belarus. Poland and Latvia have already strengthened defenses on their borders with Belarus.
08/10/2023
Poland to send up to ten thousand soldiers to the border with Belarus, where members of the Wagner group are said to be massing.
06/24/2023
Under an agreement brokered by Belarus President Lukashenko, Prigozhin calls off his advance and says his troops will return to their former positions. The Kremlin drops all “mutiny” charges against Prigozhin, who will now go into exile in Belarus. The Wagner fighters withdraw from Rostov-on-don and the other city they occupied in Russia. Those who participated in the rebellion will be pardoned, while the rest will be permitted to become contract fighters for the Russian army.
06/21/2023
Putin says he is stationing nuclear weapons in Belarus.
05/15/2023
With rumors of Lukashenka’s ill health rampant, opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Twitter tells supporters to be ready to act.
03/26/2023
Russia says it will station nuclear weapons in Belarus.
02/28/2023
Belarus President Lukashenko visits China and will meet with Chinese President Xi.
01/17/2023
There are reports that new military chief Gerimasov was ordered to conquer all of Donetsk by the end of March. Putin has ordered the armed forces to increase by 1.5 million soldiers. There are also reports that there will be an attack on the western Ukraine city of Lviv, which would require more a diversion of Ukraine forces. A joint Belaraus-Russia military exercise begins on 1/16 and is scheduled to last until 2/1.
10/12/2022
Putin continues to urge Lukashenko to join the war in Ukraine. Lukashenko moves some troops in what he calls a defensive posture, suggesting the Ukraine is going to invade Belarus. Ukraine says this is nonsensical. Russia sends Ukrainian drones to Belarus and fires missiles from Belarus. Moldova protests that the missiles crossed its airspace.
06/25/2022
Russia says it will send nuclear-capable missiles to Belarus.
04/07/2022
Belarus President Lukashenko demands that Belarus be included in the negotiations over the war in Ukraine.
02/27/2022
Russia offers and Ukraine accepts the offer to negotiate, at a location on the border with Belarus. Many believe it is a ploy to buy time to allow the invasion to be more successful. Russian heavy weapons and troops have not yet reached proximate offensive positions in Ukraine, although there are multiple anecdotes of transports running out of fuel and of Russian soldiers surprised to find they are in an offensive invasion rather that just the protection of the Donbas residents. Some have surrendered. Ukraine president Volodomyr Zelenskyy has remained in Kyiv throughout and has become an international symbol of resistance and heroism.
02/27/2022
In a snap referendum, Belarus authorizes nuclear weapons to be sited within its borders. The referendum also prohibits prosecution of Lukashenko and makes him a permanent member of the upper house of parliament. Belarussian troops believed to be poised to invade Ukraine.
02/08/2022
Russian war games in Belarus begin. They will last ten days, and Putin says the troops will be withdrawn when the games are finished.
02/03/2022
Belarus says that a Ukrainian drone entered its airspace and was shot down.
12/14/2021
Opposition leader Sergei Tsikhanousky is sentenced to eighteen years in prison.
12/02/2021
EU, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia all attempting to stop Belarus from pushing migrants across their borders.
11/18/2021
Belarus offers to repatriate 5000 migrants if the EU agrees to take 2000, an arrangement the EU is unlikely to agree to.
11/18/2021
Belarus clears migrants from the Polish border.
11/18/2021
Belarus cuts electricity supplies to Ukraine, per contract. It may resume supplies insofar as possible.
11/17/2021
Belarus cuts natural gas deliveries to Poland.
11/16/2021
After some migrants throw stones at Polish security forces, the Poles respond with tear gas and water cannons.
11/15/2021
EU to sanction Belarus over treatment of migrants.
11/12/2021
At Turkey’s request, Belarussian airlines bars refugees from Syria, Yemen, and Iraq from flying out of Turkey.
11/11/2021
Lukashenko suggests that Belarus may cut gas shipments to Europe if any new sanctions are placed.
11/11/2021
Lukashenko suggests that Belarus may cut gas shipments to Europe if any new sanctions are placed.
11/09/2021
Lithuanian parliament declares a limited state of emergency over the massing of migrants from Belarus on its borders.
11/08/2021
Violence at the border between Belarus and Poland by immigrants Belarus has brought there, escorted by Belarusian military.
10/18/2021
Poland moves substantial number of troops to the border with Belarus in an effort to stop migrants from crossing.
09/06/2021
Court finds opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova guilty on charges of trying to seize power and of extremism.
09/06/2021
Poland imposes a state of emergency on its border with Belarus to limit immigration and in advance of Russian military maneuvers near its border with Belarus.
07/07/2021
Former banker, presidential candidate, and opposition figure Viktor Babariko is sentenced to fourteen years in jail.
06/28/2021
Belarus ejects EU diplomat over sanctions.
06/24/2021
Protasevich is moved to house arrest.
06/24/2021
EU imposes economic sanctions on Belarus and on Lukashenko and his allies for human rights violations.
06/01/2021
Government bans most citizens from leaving, temporarily.
05/24/2021
EU sanctions Belarus, mainly denying it air space over EU countries.
05/23/2021
Belarus government diverts an airplane en route to Lithuania carrying an activist Belarusian journalist, Raman Pratasevich, to Belarus on a false bomb threat and arrests him there.
05/18/2021
Government allows police to kill protestors.
03/29/2021
Tikhanovskaya is charged in absentia with terrorism in attempting to stage false-flag bombings in Minsk and Barysaw.
03/25/2021
More than 100 are arrested in the city square in Minsk, although there are no demonstrations because police barricaded the square. Tikhanovskaya in exile had called for new protests to begin this day, “Freedom Day,” an unofficial celebration of the short-lived republic founded in 1981 in Belarus.
11/27/2020
Lukashenko says he will step down after a new constitution is adopted.
11/27/2020
Lukashenko says he will step down after a new constitution is adopted.
11/15/2020
More than 1000 arrested in continued protests.
11/01/2020
Protests for the thirteenth Sunday consecutively. Lukashenko insists he will not resign.
10/29/2020
Government closes its borders with immediate neighbors.
10/26/2020
Lukashenko ignores opposition demand that he resign by this date. Huge demonstrations continue.
10/26/2020
Nationwide strike. Police fire stun grenades and arrest hundreds.
10/18/2020
Protests continue despite police threats to fire.
10/10/2020
Lukashenko meets with jailed opposition leader Viktor Babariko and others.
10/06/2020
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya meets with German Chancellor Merkel to appeal for support and calls for Germany to mediate the dispute.
10/01/2020
Belarus and EU both impose sanctions on each other.
09/29/2020
Canada and the UK sanction Lukashenko and other Belarussian government officials. Protests continue over the weekend and the police continue the crackdown on them.
09/29/2020
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya meets with French Pres Macron to appeal for support.
09/24/2020
EU calls Lukashenko’s election and inauguration in Belarus illegitimate.
09/20/2020
Protests continue.
09/16/2020
Putin offers Lukashenko a $1.5 million loan, but his support seems restrained. He affirms that Lukashenko plans constitutional changes.
09/14/2020
Protests continue. Lukashenko travels to Russia to meet with Putin.
09/09/2020
Opposition lawyer abducted by masked men.
09/08/2020
Kolesnikova reportedly being held at the border after refusing deportation to Ukraine. She is said to have torn up her passport.
09/07/2020
Opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova is abducted by unidentified masked men.
09/06/2020
Continuing large protests against Lukashenko.
08/30/2020
Protests continue.
08/28/2020
Government revokes the credentials of foreign journalists as protests continue.
08/27/2020
Government shuts down the internet. Russia warns protestors that Russia has formed a security force to restore order in Belarus if the situation becomes uncontrollable.
08/20/2020
Government begins investigation into the opposition protests for attempt to “seize power” after the election. Maria Kolesnikova is the leader of the opposition who remains in Belarus, hoping to continue the fight for new elections.
08/19/2020
EU debates sanctions on Belarus. Russia warns against any interference. Security forces attempt to crush continuing protests.
08/18/2020
Lukashenko refuses a new election. Russia says it is prepared to help Lukashenko to retain order.
08/18/2020
Several diplomats resign in support of the protests. Factory workers walk off their jobs.
08/17/2020
Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko and his cabinet resign.
08/17/2020
Tsikhanouskaya calls for security forces to revolt. Lukashenko calls for a new constitution before elections can be held.
08/14/2020
Lithuania rejects the legitimacy of the Lukashenko government.
08/14/2020
Sixth day of huge protests demanding Lukashenko’s resignation. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia call for free and fair elections in Belarus.
08/11/2020
Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya flees to Lithuania as Lukashenko begins crackdown on opposition.


08/10/2020
Lukashenko declared re-eleted
Exit polls predict that Lukashenko has won re-election. There is widespread dismay among the opposition and accusations of fraud. Not clear if the government ever announces an official result.
08/10/2020
Second day of protests about the election. Police shoot rubber bullets.
08/09/2020
With news reports suggesting that Lukashenko will win easily, protests erupt.
08/08/2020
Veronika Tsapkala flees to Moscow, where her husband Valery Tsapkala had been living since July.
08/04/2020
Lukashenko accuses Russia of lying about Russian security contractors arrested in Minsk and says that unnamed forces are plotting a revolution. Russia says that they were in transit to another country.
08/02/2020
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, presidential candidate of the unified opposition, says she does not call for protests, but will join them.
07/17/2020
Increasing protests against Lukashenko, whom the protestors call “Psycho 3%,” derived from his statement that the COVID-19 disease is a “psychosis,” that can be managed with saunas and vodka. The 3% refers to his popularity in a recent opposition poll.
07/14/2020
The Belarusian election commission bars two prominent opposition candidates from running in the election scheduled for 8/9, ensuring a victory for Lukashenko. The barred candidates are Viktar Babaryka who was disqualified for an open criminal case against him and Valery Tsepkalo whose signatures on a supporting petition were nullified.
06/19/2020
Government announces it has detained opposition presidential candidate Viktor Barbaryko on suspicion of financial crimes. Barbaryko was head of a gas company that was a subsidiary of the Russian Gazprom and was the main candidate against Lukadhenko in the 8/9 presidential elections. Another opposition canddiate, Mikola Statkevich was arrested on 6/15, his second arrest this month. There have been substantial rallies for the opposition.
02/28/2020
Belarus confirms its first case of COVID-19.
11/17/2019
Belarus parliamentary elections. Although Pres Lukashenko holds a firm grip on government and voters see little opportunity for change, observers are watching to see how much opposition Lukashenko, officially an independent, will allow. He has recently made efforts to open to the West somewhat even as Russia has tried to bring it closer. No opposition members elected; two had been elected lose their seats.
11/17/2019
Belarus threatens to withdraw from integration agreement with Russia if dispute over energy subsidies is not resolved. Russia has announced plans to phase the subsidies out.
02/13/2019
Lukashenko meets with Putin. There is speculation that Lukashenko will allow Belarus to be absorbed by Russia, which would give them a better price for energy.