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.
Belarus Soviet city

Published August 23, 2011

Jason Motlagh, for the Pulitzer Center

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.

Project

image

Belarus: A Soviet Hangover

A gathering economic crisis in Belarus is bringing a new generation out into the streets.
December 11, 2011 / Virginia Quarterly Review

Dark Days in Belarus

Jason Motlagh
Twenty years after independence, Belarus struggles for freedom under the dictatorship of Alexander Lukashenko.
image
July 27, 2011 / The Economist

Searching for Banksy in Belarus

Jason Motlagh
Belarussian artists and intellectuals have found a place in Minsk where they can express themselves, but still feel they are being monitored closely by the KGB.
more