Events of the year 2025 in Belarus.
Incumbents
President – Alexander Lukashenko Prime Minister – Roman Golovchenko (until 10 March); Aleksandr Turchin (since 10 March)
Events Ongoing: Belarusian involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war; Belarus–European Union border crisis
January 26 January – 2025 Belarusian presidential election: Alexander Lukashenko is reelected for a seventh term with 87.6% of the vote; opposition leaders were not allowed to run and are either exiled or jailed by the regime.
February 5 February – KGB gained access to the Belarusian Hajun project Telegram channel, which published information about the movement of Russian troops and equipment across Belarus, collected via their Telegram bot. KGB got the list of Telegram accounts of people who sent information via the bot. As of October 2025, at least 88 people were arrested. 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.
March 10 March – Lukashenko appoints Aleksandr Turchin as prime minister. 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. 25 March – Lukashenko is inaugurated for a seventh term in office. 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.
April 30 April – Youras Ziankovich, a dual US-Belarusian national imprisoned for allegedly plotting to overthrow and assassinate Lukashenko, is released.
May 7 May – Lukashenko issues pardons to 42 imprisoned opposition activists. 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.
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.
July 23 July – Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a law allowing Belarusian citizens living as permanent residents in Russia to vote in local elections and run for local office. 25 July – Journalist Danil Palianski is convicted and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on charges of treason and revealing state secrets. 28 July – the Ukrainian hacker group Silent Crow together with the Belarusian group Cyber Partisans attacked Russian national company Aeroflot; as a result, according to Silent Crow, the IT infrastructure of Aeroflot was "destroyed", multiple flights were delayed or cancelled.
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. 4 September – A Polish Carmelite monk is arrested in Lyepyel on charges of spying on military drills involving Russia. 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. 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. 12–16 September – The Zapad 2025 joint Russian-Belarusian military exercise is held, prompting Poland to close its border with Belarus. 16 September – Lukashenko issues pardons to 25 people convicted on charges of extremism. Journalist Ihar Ilyash is sentenced to four years' imprisonment on charges of extremism. 19 September – Belarus expels a Czech diplomat in retaliation for the expulsion of a Belarusian diplomat from the Czech Republic on 8 September. 27 September – The International Paralympic Committee lifts the partial suspension of Russia and Belarus from competition that had been imposed since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022.
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 beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022. 22 October – Imprisoned journalist Andrzej Poczobut is awarded the Sakharov Prize for his reporting. 27 October – After multiple air balloon incidents, Lithuania closes its border with Belarus until November 30.
November 19 November – Lithuania opens the border. 20 November – The Episcopal Conference of Belarus announces the release of two Catholic priests imprisoned on political grounds following negotiations between the government and the Vatican. 22 November – Lukashenko issues pardons to 31 Ukrainian nationals.
December 2 December – The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturns a ban imposed by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation on Belarusian athletes competing as neutrals since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022. 13 December – The government releases 123 political prisoners including opposition leaders Maria Kalesnikava, Maxim Znak, Viktar Babaryka, Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski, and journalists Pavel Sevyarynets and Marina Zolotova in exchange for the lifting of sanctions on the Belarusian potash industry by the United States. 14 December – FIDE allows Belarusian chess players to compete under their national flag for the first time since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022. 16 December – Lithuanian police arrest 21 people allegedly connected to a criminal network responsible for smuggling cigarettes into the country using weather balloons from Belarus. 30 December – the Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile Oreshnik was officially deployed in Belarus. While official location is not disclosed, OSINT analytics think that it can be located near Krichev, around 180 km from the Ukrainian border.
Belarus-US relations
Released political prisoners According to Viasna, 342 political prisoners were released in 2025. Counting from June 2025, there were 569 political prisoners released; 189 people were forced to exile. As of 23 December 2025, there are at least 1135 political prisoners in Belarus.
Among the released prisoners are Youras Ziankovich, Sergei Tikhanovsky, Ihar Losik, Maria Kalesnikava, Maxim Znak, Viktar Babaryka, Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski, Pavel Sevyarynets, Marina Zolotova, Alyaksandr Feduta, , Mikola Dziadok.
Holidays
1-2 January – New Year's Day 7 January – Christmas (Orthodox) 8 March – International Women's Day 29 April – Radonitsa Day 1 May – Labour Day 9 May – Victory Day 3 July – Independence Day 7 November – October Revolution Day 25 December – Christmas (Catholic)
Deaths 7 January - , 92, poet and writer 17 January - Maria Zaitseva, 24, volunteer in the Ukrainian army 23 January - , 78, poet and writer 27 January - , 62, director 4 February - , 87, politician 27 March - , 62, rock musician and sculptor 6 April - , 89, enthnographer and historian 15 May - , 62, philosopher 20 June - , 83, writer and literary critic 22 June - , 95, geologist 25 June - , 85, director 16 July - , 92, diaspora public figure 22 July – Edvard Zaikouski, 72, archaeologist 28 July - John Miszuk, 84, Canadian ice hockey player of Belarusian descent 20 August - , 65, poet and historian 22 August - Yaroslav Yevdokimov, 78, singer 3 September - , 36, political prisoner 22 September - Aron Bielski, 98, Jewish partisan, member of Bielski partisans 15 October - , 94, art historian 7 November - , 83, writer 1 December - , 77, poet and writer 2 December – Anatoli Belyayev, 73, ice hockey player (Dinamo Minsk, Dynamo Moscow). Умер бывший хоккеист минского «Динамо» Анатолий Беляев 14 December – , 70, composer 21 December – , 37, journalist and YouTuber 23 December – , 88, sculptor
See also
2025 in Europe
References
External links Online calendar