Free Republic

“My proposal — Ukraine’s eastern border, Belarus eastern border, the eastern borders of the Baltic states, Finland’s eastern border — that is the strongest security line for all of us in Europe..."

Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, Belarus’s autocratic president and Russia’s closest ally, has taken steps to soften his country’s isolation from the West.

Belarus’ incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko is winning the presidential election in the country with 87.6% of votes, according to an exit poll conducted by the Belarusian Youth Organizations Committee, APA reports citing TASS. According to the exit poll results, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Oleg Gaidukevich is scoring 1.8% of the vote, entrepreneur Anna Kanopatskaya - 1.6%, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Sergey Syrankov - 2.7%, and leader of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice Alexander Khizhnyak - 1.2%. As many as 5.1% of voters cast their ballots against all. The exit poll...

There are times in history when countries are gripped by election fever. January 2025 in Belarus is not one of them. Drive around Minsk and you'll see no big billboards promoting the portraits of candidates. There is little campaigning. The grey skies and sleet of a Belarusian winter add to an overriding sense of inactivity. And inevitability. The outcome of the 2025 presidential election is not in doubt. Alexander Lukashenko, once dubbed "Europe's last dictator," who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for more than 30 years, will be declared the winner and secure a seventh term in office....

One of Donald Trump's first executive orders as president was to suspend any aid to foreign countries for 90 days. The consequences of this decision are still difficult to assess. On the one hand, we can talk about stopping the transfer of money and weapons to Ukraine. Trump believes that about 200 billion dollars was allocated to this country in the form of equipment and finance, and not only by America. However, Washington intends to audit the rationality of the use of these funds. On the other hand, the appropriations for aid to Ukraine were approved by the Congress, and...

A January 6th defendant on the run from the Biden Regime that was granted political asylum and refugee status by the President of Belarus is asking President Trump for help. In an exclusive interview with the Gateway Pundit, Evan Neumann of California is pleading with President Trump for a pardon so he can return home to United States to be with his two children. Neumann has spent the past 3 and a half years as a political refugee in Belarus after escaping Biden’s FBI and the Ukrainian SBU (Secret Service) by ditching his electronics and walking 18 hours through a...

Poland will not recognize Belarus’ upcoming presidential election, scheduled for January 26, upper-house Speaker Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska said on Thursday. She made the statement after meeting in Warsaw with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is visiting Poland. Kidawa-Błońska called the planned election a "sham," and added that elections cannot be considered free when political opponents are jailed for seeking democracy. She said she hopes parliaments in other European countries will also refuse to recognize the vote. She emphasized the need to hold Belarusian strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko accountable for human rights abuses, insisting he must face consequences for his actions....

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has said that more than a dozen Russian nuclear weapons have been moved to his country. On Tuesday in post on his Telegram account, he said "I brought nuclear warheads here. Not a few dozen of them." He continued, "Many people write: 'Oh, it's a joke, no one brought anything in.' They did. And the fact that they ... say that it's a joke means they missed it. They didn't even notice how we brought them in."

The organization, CSTO, is a Russian-led security alliance that includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan “Radicals from Central Asia have accounted for a notable share of recent Islamic State-inspired or -directed plots and attacks in the United States, Europe, Turkey, and Iran,” Lucas Webber and Riccardo Valle wrote in a Hudson Institute analysis last year. In September 2022, ISKP – which vehemently opposes Russia’s support for the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria – claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul which left six dead. Despite repeatedly warnings from foreign sources – including the U.S....

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow could deploy its Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missiles system in Belarus in the second half of 2025, Russian state media said. Putin was responding to a request by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a summit in Minsk. He said Belarus would determine the targets for Oreshniks deployed on its territory.

The first two of 12 Sukhoi Su-30K fighters Angola ordered nearly four years for $1 billion have arrived in the country, giving a country with one of the most formidable air forces in the region some of the best military hardware Russia has to offer. Angola enters the club of African states possessing Su-30s along with Uganda and Algeria. The planes bounced around a lot before they got there. In 2013, Angola inked the purchase with Russia for the fighters, which served with the Indian Air Force from 1998-2005 before returning to Russia in exchange for more modern Su-30MKIs. Via...

"Europeans must be ready to sacrifice some “luxuries” to pay to support Ukraine and to prevent a “wartime scenario” coming to the nations of the continent if they are insufficiently prepared, NATO’s most senior military officer said in a speech namechecking both Russia and China as threats..."- from the article

What have I done to be placed on the sanctions list of the Russian Foreign Ministry, alongside several distinguished historians of eastern Europe? My normal hunting ground (not the right word for a maritime historian) is the Mediterranean and the oceans beyond. But maybe Russia’s mandarins know that I am now writing about the Black Sea. Since the reign of Peter the Great in the 18th century, Russia has seen the Black Sea as a vital gateway to the wider world. The Ottoman sultans blocked Russian attempts to reach warmer waters via Istanbul. Russian ships bound for intended conquests had...

-snip- Belarus has played a part in Russia’s war. In February 2022 Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched, partly, from Belarusian territory. Why did the country’s leader allow the Kremlin to do that? “How do you know I gave permission for Belarusian territory to be used?” Lukashenko asks me. “Because Belarusian territory was used [for the invasion].” “There were exercises going on involving several thousand Russian soldiers. Putin started withdrawing these troops from where they were in southern Belarus, down a road, along the border with Ukraine. "At one point he redirected some of these troops to Kyiv. I’m...

Vladimir Putin is regretful over the war in Ukraine, according to the latest claim by one of his closest allies, as US defence officials warned North Korean troops will become 'legitimate targets' if they are seen to fight alongside Russian forces. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko delivered a wide-ranging interview with the BBC and state-owned broadcaster BelTA this week in which he was asked whether his Russian counterpart had regrets over launching his so-called 'special military operation' in Ukraine. -snip- 'Both sides suffer heavy losses... Does Putin regret it or not? Of course he regrets. He's a living man.' -snip- Ukraine's...

Mike Benz joined Jack Posobiec on Tuesday's episode of Human Events Daily where they discussed how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly been telling European governments that if Kyiv does not shore up the support it wants in its war with Russia, it will "pursue nuclear weapons." This followed a meeting with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. However, Posobiec's sources who attended the meeting disclosed that "there was no agreement by President Trump whatsoever to provide nuclear weapons to Ukraine." "Well, remember, Zelensky can't even use his own bathroom at 3 am in the middle of the night without getting...

Opposition calls for non-recognition of vote set to extend Lukashenko’s 30-year rule. Belarus plans to hold a presidential vote, in which incumbent Alexander Lukashenko is likely to secure a seventh straight term, on January 26. The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the date in Minsk on Wednesday. Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Russia who has been accused of manipulating previous elections and stamping out political opposition, has tightened his grip on dissent since Moscow launched its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022. The CEC said in a statement on social media that parliament had approved the date of the...

The leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has threatened the west with a nuclear warning saying World War 3 will be triggered if NATO advance into his country. The leader of Belarus warned World War 3 will break out - if NATO attacked his country or Russia. Alexander Lukashenko threatened to use nuclear weapons against NATO despite Belarus not having any. However, since last year, the nation has hosted Russian tactical warheads, on behalf of close ally Vladimir Putin. Lukashenko made his sinister threats while speaking in Minsk, saying “World War Three” would be unleashed if NATO troops entered his country,...

A Belarusian man dubbed the world's 'most monstrous bodybuilder' has reportedly died of a heart attack aged just 36. Illia 'Golem' Yefimchyk ate seven times a day and consumed 16,500 calories, including 108 pieces of sushi and 2.5 kilograms of steak. Known as the '340lbs beast' and also The Mutant, he stood 6ft 1 inch tall and boasted a 61-inch chest and 25-inch biceps. He reportedly suffered a heart attack at home on September 6, while his wife Anna performed chest compressions as she waited for the ambulance. The bodybuilder was flown to hospital by helicopter. 'I prayed all this...

US politics three national polls two of them giving Kamala Harris the lead... In New York City this week more FBI raids aimed at officials close to Mayor Eric Adams... Colin Gray the father of the suspect in the Georgia school attack yesterday arrested... Telegram CEO Pavel Durov making his first comments since his arrest...he was told that he could be held responsible for other people's illegal use of Telegram... "I don't know if I'm insulted or he did me a favor" Donald Trump's reaction to Russian President Vladimir Putin's comments earlier today... "you're not going to have an Israel"...