NewsTracker Answers for week of Mar. 06, 2023

Q: Belarus last week sentenced its top human rights advocate and one of the winners of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to prison for 10 years in the latest crackdown on dissent against President Alexander Lukashenko. Where is Belarus in Eastern Europe?

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Q: Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994, imposing harsh penalties on anyone who challenges or protests his reign. Which Belarus neighbors is Lukashenko’s biggest ally?

A. Lithuania

B. Poland

C. Russia

D. Ukraine


C. Russia is Lukashenko’s closest economic and political partner, and he allowed the Russian army to use Belarusian territory in Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. Belarus is bordered by Lithuania and Latvia to the north, Russia to the east, Ukraine to the south and Poland to the west.


Q: Which neighbor did Lukashenko accuse in 2020 of trying to force a merger with Belarus?

A. Lithuania

B. Poland

C. Russia

D. Ukraine


C. Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia were part of the Soviet Union, which broke apart in 1991. Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former Soviet spy, has used Russian military and economic force to try control some nations which gained independence from Moscow in 1991. While dependent on Russia, Lukashenko strives to maintain power in his country.


Q: Belarusian rights campaigner Ales Bialiatski was already imprisoned in Belarus when he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize last year. What other nation jailed a Nobel Peace laureate?

A. China

B. Germany

C. Myanmar

D. All of the above


D. Dissidents in all three nations were unable to collect their Nobel Peace Prizes because they were detained. An opponent of Adolf Hitler was in a German concentration camp where he later died. A Chinese dissident was in prison and also died in captivity. A Myanmar politician was under house arrest when she won her prize and is imprisoned once again.


Q: About 80 percent of Belarus’ 9.3 million people live in cities. What is the capital and largest city in Belarus?

A. Kyiv

B. Minsk

C. Riga

D. Vilnius


B. Minsk has a population of about 2 million people. It was originally settled by Lithuanians in the 9th and 10th centuries. Lithuanians, Poles, Ukrainians and Russians all ruled the territory that is now Belarus at different periods of history.