War in Belarus (The More Things Changed)

The War in Belarus is an ongoing conflict involving protests and confrontations in Eastern Europe, in the Republic of Belarus.

Since September 2017, the conflict has claimed hundreds of lives. It is the second-deadliest ongoing conflict in Europe, after the War in Donbass.

Background
Since 1994, Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko has served as the first and only President of the Republic of Belarus. Prior to his political career a, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm and spent time with the Soviet Border Troops and the Soviet Army. He was the only deputy to vote against the independence of Belarus from the Soviet Union.

Lukashenko and other Belorussian officials are also the subject of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States for human rights violations since 2006. He has often been referred to as "the last dictator in Europe."