Story

Belarus in the Time of Lukashenko

August 23, 2011 | Pulitzer Center
By
Jason Motlagh, for the Pulitzer Center
Belarus Soviet city

Victory Square at night, Minsk. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

A passenger studies the train schedule at the Brest terminal, eastern Belarus. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

Smugglers in the Polish border town of Kuznica pack on synthetic shorts to be re-sold in Belarus. Image by Jason Motlagh. Poland, 2011.

A smuggler fans a wad of Belarusian rubles to show how bad inflation has become, Kuznica, Poland. Image by Jason Motlagh. Poland, 2011.

A billboard in downtown Minsk honoring Soviet-era war veterans. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

The walk-up to Minsk Tractor Works, the country’s main production plant. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

Workers at the regional tractor plant in Mozyr, Belarus. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

A statue of Lenin at the gate of a tractor factory in Mozyr. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

Soviet-era sign promoting agriculture, southern Belarus. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

Alexander Feduta, an opposition journalist, scans the street for government agents, Minsk. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

An art gallery patron in Minsk ducks to avoid being photographed. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

Rusia Shukiurova, a musician and activist, at work in a Minsk café. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

Expatriate Belarusian student activists discuss new strategies in Vilnius, Lithuania. Image by Jason Motlagh. Lithuania, 2011.

A student-made poster mocking Belarus’ leader Aleksandr Lukashenko. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

Storm clouds gather over the countryside, northern Belarus. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

A rural farmer prepares to start up his Belarus tractor, southern Belarus. Image by Jason Motlagh. Belarus, 2011.

In Belarus, city streets are filled with fear and resignation despite the recent wave of pro-democracy protests. Across the countryside, Soviet-style agricultural and industrial systems are not the source stability they once were. Poverty and joblessness are on the rise. A gloom hangs over Europe’s last dictatorship.