Rights groups, activists and independent media in Russia and Belarus endured increased government scrutiny, repressive laws and even were shut down and forced to operate from exile abroad.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Belarus has “unilaterally” freed an American woman from detention.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for over 30 years, is poised to extend his rule in an election that concludes Sunday and that the opposition dismisses as a farce.

Ales Bialiatski, a human rights advocate who won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Belarus and is one of hundreds of its political prisoners.

An imprisoned opposition leader in Belarus has resurfaced in a video shot by a pro-government blogger after over 700 days of no contact with his family.

Belarus is cracking down on its LGBTQ+ community, detaining and beating nearly three dozen of them in the last three months.