Why Belarus Is Backing Russia in Its War in Ukraine

After breaking away from a crumbling Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Belarus became increasingly aligned with Russia, unlike its neighbors. Those bonds strengthened with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Longtime President Alexander Lukashenko has allowed Belarus to be used as a staging ground, while avoiding sending his own troops to take part in the war. The tight embrace is payback after Russian President Vladimir Putin bankrolled his government for many years and came to Lukashenko’s aid following a disputed 2020 election that sparked a popular uprising, repression and sanctions.

The nation of 9.3 million people sits just to the north of Ukraine and their common border is several hundred miles long. Belarus’s southern territory extends close to Kyiv, which made it a useful base for Russian troops in their failed attempt to quickly capture the Ukrainian capital early in the conflict. Belarus borders on Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, all members of the western NATO military alliance, ensuring its strategic importance for Moscow. It’s also part of the shortest route between Russia’s mainland and Kaliningrad, an isolated Russian-held territory further west on the Baltic Sea.