Ukraine sanctions Belarusian leader Lukashenko

Ukraine has introduced a package of personal sanctions against self-proclaimed Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.

Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X (Twitter); a decree on the Ukrainian president's website

Quote: "Alexander Lukashenko has long been trading Belarus's sovereignty for the continuation of his personal power, helping Russians circumvent global sanctions for this aggression, actively justifying Russia's war, and now further increasing his own participation in scaling and prolonging the war. There will be special consequences for this."

Details: Zelenskyy said that in 2025, the Russian military in Belarus installed a network of repeaters to guide attack drones, enhancing its ability to strike northern Ukraine. He added that without this support, Russian attacks on energy facilities and railways in these regions would have been less frequent.

The Ukrainian leader said that "more than 3,000 Belarusian enterprises have been put at the service of Russia's war", providing crucial technology, equipment and components, especially for missile production.

"Infrastructure is also being developed to deploy intermediate-range missiles – Oreshnik – on the territory of Belarus, which is an obvious threat not only to Ukrainians but to all Europeans," Zelenskyy stressed.

A corresponding decree was later published on the website of the Office of the President.

The sanctions stipulate the indefinite revocation of Ukrainian state awards and other honours held by Lukashenko. Other restrictive measures, in force for 10 years, include asset and capital freezes, a full stop to trade and economic operations and transit, suspension of financial obligations and permits, restrictions on participation in privatisation and public procurement, bans on certain property and corporate transactions, termination of international cooperation in various fields, as well as visa and property restrictions, among other measures.

Background: In 2023, Lukashenko acknowledged that some Russian military units had entered Ukraine from the territory of Belarus at the start of the full-scale war, although he did not see his own responsibility for Russia's invasion.

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