2025 in Belarus

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Decades:
See also:

Events of the year 2025 in Belarus.

Incumbents

Events

Ongoing: Belarusian involvement in Russian invasion of Ukraine; Belarus–European Union border crisis

January

February

  • 12 February – Three people detained in Belarusian prisons, including an American national and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Andrey Kuznechyk, are released from custody and sent to Lithuania following diplomatic intervention by the US.[2]

March

  • 10 March – President Lukashenko appoints Aleksandr Turchin as prime minister.[3]
  • 17 March – A Japanese resident of Gomel is convicted and sentenced by the Minsk City Court to seven years' imprisonment for spying for Japanese intelligence.[4]
  • 25 March – President Lukashenko is inaugurated for a seventh term in office.[5]
  • 31 March – An American national is arrested for illegally entering Belarus after being discovered inside an empty train car that had arrived in Maladzyechna from Lithuania.[6]

April

  • 30 April – Youras Ziankovich, a dual US-Belarusian national imprisoned for allegedly plotting to overthrow and assassinate President Lukashenko, is released.[7]

May

  • 7 May – President Lukashenko issues pardons to 42 imprisoned opposition activists.[8]
  • 19 May – Lithuania files a case at the International Court of Justice against Belarus accusing it of organising the trafficking of migrants into its territory.[9]

June

  • 21 June – Opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky and 13 other political prisoners are released from prison and deported to Lithuania following a pardon as a result of negotiations with Trump's envoy in Minsk.[10]

July

  • 23 July – Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a law allowing Belarusian citizens living as permanently residents in Russia to vote in local elections and run for local office.[11]
  • 25 July – Journalist Danil Palianski is convicted and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on charges of treason and revealing state secrets.[12]

September

  • 3 September – Andrei Podnebenny, a Russian political prisoner sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment by a Belarusian court in 2022 on charges including extremism, arson and vandalism, dies in custody at a jail in Mogilev.[13]
  • 4 September – A Polish Carmelite monk is arrested in Lyepyel on charges of spying on military drills involving Russia.[14]
  • 8 September – The Czech Security Information Service announces the dismantling of an espionage network operating across several European countries and run by the Belarusian KGB following a joint operation by the Czech Republic, Romania, and Hungary, prompting the expulsion of a Belarusian diplomat in Prague.[15]
  • 11 September – The United States lifts sanctions against the Belarusian flag carrier Belavia following the release of 52 political prisoners by the Belarusian government. The prisoners are deported to Lithuania; however, opposition leader Mikola Statkevich refuses to be deported and is returned to prison.[16]
  • 12–16 September – The Zapad 2025 joint Russian-Belarusian military exercise is held, prompting Poland to close its border with Belarus.[17]
  • 16 September –
    • Lukashenko issues pardons to 25 people convicted on charges of extremism.[18]
    • Journalist Ihar Ilyash is sentenced to four years' imprisonment on charges of extremism.[19]
  • 19 September – Belarus expels a Czech diplomat in retaliation for the expulsion of a Belarusian diplomat from the Czech Republic on 8 September.[20]
  • 27 September – The International Paralympic Committee lifts the partial suspension of Russia and Belarus from competition that had been imposed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[21]

October

  • 13 October – At least 88 people are arrested nationwide on suspicion of involvement with the OSINT military monitoring group Belarusian Hajun that tracked Russian and Belarusian military activity in the country since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[22]
  • 22 October – Imprisoned journalist Andrzej Poczobut is awarded the Sakharov Prize for his reporting.[23]
  • 27 October – After multiple air balloon incidents, Lithuania closed its border with Belarus for a period of at least one month, until November 30.[24][25]

Holidays

Source:[26][27]

Deaths

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Lukashenko Extends 30-Year Rule in Election Decried by Exiled Opposition". The Moscow Times. 27 January 2025. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  2. ↑ "Belarus releases three prisoners, including US citizen and jailed journalist". France 24. 13 February 2025. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  3. ↑ "Lukashenko appoints Alexander Turchin as Belarus's new PM". The Kyiv Independent. 10 March 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  4. ↑ "A Japanese man handed 7-year sentence in Belarus on charges of working for Japanese intelligence". AP News. 20 March 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  5. ↑ "Authoritarian leader of Belarus is sworn for a 7th term and tells his critics 'you have no future'". AP News. 25 March 2025. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  6. ↑ "Belarusian authorities detain an American accused of arriving illegally on an empty train". AP News. 31 March 2025. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  7. ↑ "Belarus releases US citizen who was jailed for years". AP News. 1 May 2025. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
  8. ↑ "Belarus' authoritarian leader pardons 42 imprisoned activists". AP News. 7 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  9. ↑ "Lithuania takes Belarus to top UN court over alleged smuggling of migrants". AP News. 20 May 2025. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  10. ↑ "Belarus Opposition Leader Tikhanovsky Freed From Jail". The Moscow Times. 21 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  11. ↑ "Belarusians Living in Russia Granted Right to Vote and Run in Local Elections". The Moscow Times. 23 July 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  12. ↑ "Belarus journalist is convicted of treason and jailed for 10 years as crackdown on dissent continues". AP News. 9 August 2025.
  13. ↑ "Russian Political Prisoner Dies in Belarusian Jail". The Moscow Times. 8 September 2025.
  14. ↑ "Belarus detains Polish Carmelite monk for alleged spying". AP News. 6 September 2025.
  15. ↑ "Romania, Czechia, and Hungary disband Belarusian espionage network in Europe". The Kyiv Independent. 9 September 2025. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  16. ↑ "Belarus frees 52 prisoners, Lithuanian president says". AP News. 11 September 2025. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  17. ↑ "Poland сloses border with Belarus as Russian-Belarusian Zapad drills begin". The Kyiv Independent. 12 September 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  18. ↑ "Lukashenko pardons another 25 political prisoners ahead of Unity Day". The Kyiv Independent. 16 September 2025. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  19. ↑ "Belarus sentences journalist to 4 years in prison, days after release of over 50 political prisoners". AP News. 17 September 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  20. ↑ "Belarus expels Czech diplomat in tit-for-tat move after Prague makes spy ring accusations". AP News. 20 September 2025. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  21. ↑ "International Paralympic Committee Lifts Partial Suspensions of Russia, Belarus". The Moscow Times. 27 September 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  22. ↑ "Belarus detains at least 88 over alleged ties to military monitoring group, rights watchdog says". The Kyiv Independent. 15 October 2025. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  23. ↑ "Jailed journalists win Sakharov Prize for speaking against injustice, European Parliament says". AP News. 23 October 2025. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  24. ↑ "Lithuania says it will shoot down Belarus smuggler balloons disrupting air traffic". Reuters. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  25. ↑ "Lithuania to keep Belarus border shut until November 30 over balloon incidents". Reuters. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  26. ↑ "Belarus Public Holidays 2025". Public Holidays Global. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  27. ↑ "National and Public Holidays and Commemorative Dates". Press Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  28. ↑ "Памёр Эдвард Зайкоўскі". Наша Ніва (in Belarusian). 22 July 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.