If you were to walk down the streets of Minsk, Belarus, post-Soviet architecture would line your path as the Russian language whirs around you. Although the country gained its independence over 30 years ago in 1991, it still carries echoes of the Soviet empire and whispers of a return to Moscow’s rule. 

Russification, the enforcement of Russian life onto non-Russians, has eroded both Belarus’ culture and its political sovereignty. Under President Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule, Russian influence has breached Belarus’ media and education system, and Moscow’s authority has dictated Belarus’ fiscal and foreign policy. As Belarus continues to suppress voices advocating for democracy and true sovereignty, Russification has become more than a cultural force: it is a mechanism for retaining both Lukashenko’s and Russia’s authoritarian control.  

History:

Bordering Eastern Russia, Belarus, along with other former Soviet countries, have long been a target of Russification. Since its incorporation into the Russian empire in 1795, after the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Belarus has experienced systematic cultural repression at the hands of Russian authorities. 

During the 19th century, the Belarusian language was marginalized in order to promote the Russian language. As a result of anti-Russian uprisings in 1830 and 1863, Russification policies intensified. The government shut down Belarusian-language publications and prohibited the use of Belarusian in public schools. Additionally, Catholic Belarusians were pressured to convert to the Russian Orthodox Church. 

These trends continued under the Soviet Union throughout the 20th century. Despite the brief period of cultural revival under the Soviet policy of Korenizatsiya in the 1920s, which acknowledged local languages and provided some protections to ethnic groups in the USSR, progress was reversed by the 1930s. During this time there were mass purges of intellectuals, from politicians and writers to religious leaders, and a renewed promotion of the Russian language. World War II further eroded Belarus. 80% of towns and villages were destroyed and up to 30% of the Belarusian population was killed. In the aftermath of the war, Minsk, Belarus’ capital city, was rebuilt as a then-modern Soviet city, reflecting the continued Russian influence in the region. 

Throughout the Cold War, Belarus became extremely Russified. The Russian language dominated higher education, government, and city life while Belarusian primarily existed in more rural areas. After the Soviet Union collapsed and Belarus gained independence in 1991, the country experienced another small window of cultural revitalization and Belarusian was established as the nation’s sole official language. However, the rise of current president Alexander Lukashenko in 1994 marked Belarus’ return to Russification, and is shaping current Belarus-Russia relations. 

Belarus Under Lukashenko:

In its first independent election in 1994, Belarus elected Alexander Lukashenko. Campaigning amid widespread economic instability and a widespread nostalgia for the Soviet era, Lukashenko presented himself as a populist reformer who wanted to restore order and combat internal corruption. His message widely appealed to Belarusians, cementing himself as Belarus’ first, and currently only, president. 

Once in office, Lukashenko swiftly consolidated his power. Through referendums in 1995 and 1996, he expanded presidential authority, weakened parliament, and undermined the judiciary’s independence. Through these measures, Lukashenko dismantled Belarus’ young, fragile democratic systems before they could be institutionalized, setting up a governmental system that would sustain his future authoritarian rule. He restricted political opposition and independent media, restraining civil society and creating a highly regulated domestic environment. 

Russia-aligned cultural policy was a key part of Lukashenko’s power centralization. The 1995 referendum made the Russian language of equal status as Belarusian, reversing post-independence efforts focused on reviving Belarusian culture. This allowed for Russian to dominate schools and higher education, state media, and government activities, framing Belarusian as a rural, low-class language. 

Lukashenko has openly affirmed this, infamously stating that “nothing great can be expressed in Belarusian,” and that “there are only two great languages in the world: Russian and English.” Lukashenko has said that “the Russian language is my language, we were part of one empire, and we’re taking part in (helping) that language develop.” Such remarks reflect Lukashenko’s broader commitment to prioritizing Russia at the cost of Belarusian culture. 

Lukashenko’s political survival and longevity is largely a result of his ties with the Russian government President Vladimir Putin. In the late 1990s, Lukashenko began to align himself with Putin, who shared his skepticism towards western democracy. As their alliance grew, Lukashenko increasingly emphasized Russia and Belarus’ shared history and identity, asserting that they are “one people.”  

This rhetoric helped Lukashenko to justify the growing political and economic integration between the two countries. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, Lukashenko pursued policies that aligned Belarus with Moscow. The countries began integration initiatives, most importantly being the Treaty on the Creation of a Union State of Russia and Belarus. This treaty established a framework for political, economic, and military integration that is still being realized today. It ensures that Russia provides Belarus economic support and Lukashenko political backing, insulating Belarus from domestic unrest.

By the early 2000s, Lukashenko firmly positioned Belarus within Russia’s political and cultural sphere. Through Moscow’s support, Lukashenko was also able to suppress democratic institutions, establishing his authoritarian rule at the expense of Belarusian sovereignty. 

Belarus Today:

Today, Russification is inextricable from Belarus’ political condition. Belarus’ membership in the Russia-Belarus Union State, its heavy reliance on Russian economic support, and decades of anti-Belarusian rhetoric, perpetuated by Belarus’ own president, have institutionalized its subordination to Moscow. 

This dependency was especially highlighted after Belarus’ 2020 presidential election, widely disputed and condemned as fraudulent by Western governments. While authorities declared that Lukashenko had won the election, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the pro-democracy opposition candidate, is thought to have truly won. The blatant ballot rigging sparked widespread protests across the country, where protesters used the Belarusian language and historical flags as a form of resistance. The state response, however, was swift and brutal: mass arrests and police violence dismantled the protests while Tsikhanouskaya was forced into exile. 

The government’s pushback would not have been possible without Moscow’s help. Afraid of being overthrown, Lukashenko turned to Russia for assistance in suppressing crowds. In response, Russian president Vladimir Putin reportedly created a specialized Russian police force to intervene in Belarus if necessary. Russian state media also asserted the protests as being “western-orchestrated,” reinforcing narratives that delegitimized the protests and justified repression. 

Since then, Belarus has only further fallen under Russia’s influence. In 2022, Belarus allowed Putin to use its land and airspace for military operations after the invasion of Ukraine. Although Belarusian troops have not formally fought, Belarus’ support has made the country a critical base for Russia throughout the war. 

Belarus’ economic dependence on Russia has also intensified, with Russia being Belarus’ primary trading partner. Belarus relies almost solely on Russian trading ports and railways, and over 60% of Belarusian exports go to Russia. Western sanctions and the depletion of trade with Ukraine after the Russo-Ukraine war have further entrenched this reliance, with 60% of Belarus’ foreign direct investment now coming from Moscow. 

With Belarus falling further under Russia’s influence, both politically and economically, its sovereignty is rapidly eroding. 

Belarusian Resistance

Yet Russification has not eliminated domestic resistance. In the wake of the 2020 protests, language use and historical symbols have increasingly become markers of peoples’ anti-Lukashenko political views. Use of the Belarusian language has taken on a new importance, more than just cultural preservation, as the state pushes its pro-Russian agenda. 

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, now the most prominent representative of the Belarusian opposition, has repeatedly linked cultural identity to long-term political resilience. 

“Belarusian national identity, culture, and language are our strongest weapon against the Russian world,” Tsikhanouskaya said in 2024, at the Stockholm Conference on Belarus. This view is widely shared among members of the Belarusian opposition. While the government has continued to target Belarusian-language education, historical organizations, and independent cultural initiatives, cultural resistance shows that national identity is still a contested domain. This opposition helps to defy the idea that Belarus is an organic extension of the “Russian world,” even as the government accelerates military, economic, and political integration.

Lukashenko has said that “the Russian language is my language, we were part of one empire, and we’re taking part in (helping) that language develop.”