As pro-democracy activists inside and outside of Belarus increasingly find themselves targeted by Alexander Lukashenko’s repressive machinery, British historian Norman Davies suggests that, in a way, things could have been worse: The country might not have come into existence as an independent state.
Protests in Belarus
RFE/RL: British historian says fate has long been cruel to Belarus
An activist holds a portrait of Belarus House in Ukraine Head Vitaliy Shyshov at a rally near the Belarussian Embassy in downtown Kyiv on Aug. 3, 2021. Shyshov was found hanged in a Kyiv park earlier the same day. The National Police have launched a criminal investigation saying that they are looking into a potential murder framed as suicide. Although suicide has not been ruled out, a long history of torture, imprisonment, murder and suspicous deaths of Belarusian activists have raised concerns about the potential international reach of Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.
