The Ethnocide of Belarusians
- Pavel Latushka
- Jul 28
- 5 min read
A systemic ethnocide and cultural genocide of the Belarusian people is happening right now, today
In Russia and Belarus, laws are being passed on the "genocide of the Soviet people" and the "genocide of the Belarusian people" during the years of World War II. The Prosecutor's Office — formerly under Shved, now under Gary — uses this historical tragedy as a political club against opponents. But while they hide behind the past, a real ethnocide is being carried out in present-day Belarus.
What's behind this term?
Ethnocide is a deliberate policy of destroying a people's national identity and self-awareness. The lawyer Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term "genocide," emphasized that genocide is not only physical killing. Its most important component is cultural genocide — that is, the targeted destruction of a group's language, culture, and historical memory, turning them into obedient "mankurts." This is exactly what has been happening in Belarus since 2020.
Let's turn to the dry but frightening figures from the National Statistical Committee.
According to the census, in 1999, 85.6% of citizens considered Belarusian their native language. By 2019, this figure had dropped to 61.2%. And over the past 10 years, the number of schoolchildren studying in Belarusian has decreased by 34.4%!
Now, across the whole country, only about 8% of schoolchildren study in their native language — that's just over 88,000 children in a country of 9 million.
But the situation is most catastrophic in the capital. In Minsk, only 1.6% of schoolchildren study in Belarusian! That's just over 3,500 children in a city of two million. This is the lowest figure among all regions. Belarusian-language gymnasiums in the regions are being forcibly switched to Russian, and as of 2026 there isn't a single language school in the country where foreigners can officially study Belarusian. Today only 1.4% of normative legal acts in Belarus are published in Belarusian. The language is being deliberately squeezed out of every sphere.
The regime isn't even ashamed of its intentions. The head of the National Library and a member of parliament, Vadim Gigin, openly declared the destruction of cultural initiatives on air with propagandist Azaronok. He put it this way: "Will there be a thaw? You'll get this 'thaw' over your head. We will root it out completely. And the fact that you're squealing there, that you're panicking there, that your faces are twisted — for us that says we're doing everything right. And moreover, neither 'Ragna' nor this 'Grunwald' will be the end of it. (…) And believe me, just as we once simply incinerated 'Knihaŭka', it will go on being the same way." And propagandist Azaronok adds that he personally monitors the internet in search of "sedition," looking for where Belarusian poets gather or where souvenirs with national ornamentation are sold.
And the result of their dirty work is plain to see:
The Ragna ethno-store has been shut down, the HONAR and LSTR Adzieńnie brands destroyed.
The "Our Grunwald" historical reenactment festival, held for 16 years running, has been banned.
More than 117 cultural figures are behind bars or under "chemistry" (restricted-freedom sentences) — among them Pavel Belavus and musician Aleh Khamenka.
The outstanding artist Ales Pushkin was tortured in prison and died.
More than 260 cultural organizations have been liquidated, and at least 428 cultural figures have been dismissed for political reasons.
All Belarusian cultural centers abroad — the "Free Kupalaŭcy," the Museum of Free Belarus, "Budźma Belarusami" — have been declared "extremist." Merely viewing their materials in Belarus can lead to prison.
As the former director of the Kupala Theatre, I see this merciless purge from the inside. 58 people were dismissed from the Yanka Kupala National Academic Theatre, 36 of them actors — essentially the entire troupe! Russian directors and actors are being appointed in their place. The only fully Belarusian-language theatre is being forcibly russified.
From 2019 to 2024, the number of book titles in Belarusian shrank from 1,271 to 893, and the total print run fell by almost 700,000 copies. The independent publishers "Yanushkevich," "Knihazbor," and Gutenberg Publisher have been declared extremist. The Information Ministry has banned 258 books, and the lists of so-called "extremist materials" now number more than 9,000 items. Uladzimir Karatkevich's novel "Wheat Ears Under Your Sickle" has been dropped from the school curriculum!
More than 50 leading historians have been dismissed from institutes and universities or forced out of the country. For 2026–2027, Minsk and Moscow are introducing unified history textbooks for the "Union State," in which the period of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is presented as a harsh ordeal, and the Russian Empire as an era of peace. Monuments to Kosciuszko and Kalinowski are being dismantled, while an 11-meter monument to Alexander Nevsky is being erected in Minsk.
And do you know why this is happening?
I'll recall one personal conversation with Lukashenko, back when I was still working in the ministry. He once told me, one on one: "I would speak Belarusian myself, but then Putin would sell me oil at a much higher price."
That is the whole essence of this politician. He is ready to sell out the Belarusian language, culture, and history for cheap oil, gas, and the preservation of his own power.
The Western world has long treated the situation in Belarus simply as a local human rights crisis. This is a dangerous mistake.
Today, culture is the front line. Without large-scale support for the Belarusian language and identity, the European Union will end up with either a new Russian province on its border, or a country whose mentality has been completely replaced by a Russian one — aggressive and militarized. The destruction of culture is turning 9 million Belarusians into a faceless mobilization resource for the Kremlin.
Research by the Ebert Foundation shows that it is precisely nationally conscious Belarusians who most support Belarus's European path. By destroying the language, Lukashenko is destroying the country's European future.
A nation can survive without borders, but it will never survive without national identity. If we don't defend Belarusian culture today, tomorrow we'll have to build new Russian military bases and go into another "special military operation."
But I believe in our people. The Belarusian language lives on in our hearts, in our books, and in our resistance.
Share this video, like it, and write in the comments what the Belarusian language means to you today. The truth must be heard!
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