NOTEWORTHY ORGANIZATIONS CONCERNED ABOUT BELARUS
Karski-Swyer Initiative to Promote Belarusian Studies
karski-swyer-belarus-initiative.org
Anyone trying to follow Belarus from the outside quickly runs into the same problem: the country’s own state media reports one reality, and everything that contradicts it has been driven into exile, blocked, or labeled “extremist” by a court in Minsk. Understanding what is actually happening — to the political prisoners, to the independent press, to the universities and civil-society organizations that once operated inside the country — requires knowing where to look.
What follows is a working guide to the organizations and outlets we rely on to monitor Belarus: independent and exile media, the political opposition, human rights monitors, academic and policy institutions, and — because official propaganda is itself worth tracking — the state media apparatus it opposes. We are publishing it here because these sources are useful to anyone doing this work, not just to us.
INDEPENDENT & EXILE NEWS MEDIA
Most independent Belarusian journalism no longer operates from inside Belarus. After the 2020 election and the crackdown that followed, the country’s leading outlets were declared “extremist,” their staff prosecuted or forced abroad, and their websites blocked domestically. What remains is a resilient, largely exiled press corps still reporting on Belarus from Warsaw, Vilnius, Prague, and elsewhere.
Charter 97 — charter97.org — A prominent Belarusian opposition news site operating from Warsaw; covers politics, repression, civil society, and regional developments from a strongly anti-Lukashenko perspective.
Zerkalo — zerkalo.io — The successor to the suppressed TUT.by, formerly Belarus’s most-read independent news portal; now operates from abroad and provides broad general-news coverage.
Nasha Niva — nashaniva.com — One of the oldest Belarusian-language publications; its contemporary newsroom operates in exile and covers politics, society, culture, history, and the Belarusian language.
Belsat TV — belsat.eu/en — A Polish public-service satellite and online broadcaster serving Belarusian audiences. Belarusian authorities have designated Belsat’s internet resources as “extremist,” creating serious legal risks for people inside Belarus who distribute or interact with its content.
Belarusian Partisan — belaruspartisan.org/en — A Belarus-focused news and commentary site using the name of the historically prominent independent outlet. Readers should corroborate its reporting because the current site’s ownership and editorial continuity with the original publication are not sufficiently clear.
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty — Belarus Service — rferl.org/Belarus / svaboda.org — A major U.S.-funded provider of Belarusian-language news and analysis, with additional English-language coverage of Belarus.
Deutsche Welle — Belarus coverage — dw.com — Reporting and analysis concerning Belarus from Germany’s international public broadcaster. Because DW reorganizes its topic pages periodically, the site search is more durable than the former topic URL.
POLITICAL OPPOSITION
Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya — tsikhanouskaya.org — Official platform of the exiled Belarusian democratic leader and principal opposition candidate in the disputed 2020 presidential election; publishes statements, policy initiatives, campaign updates, and international advocacy.
United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus — ut-cabinet.org — An executive body of the Belarusian democratic movement in exile, coordinating policy and international advocacy.
Coordination Council of Belarus — rada.vision/en — A representative body of the democratic part of Belarusian society, established after the 2020 election; publishes resolutions, policy positions, election materials, and organizational news.
HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
Viasna Human Rights Center — spring96.org/en — Belarus’s leading human-rights organization, documenting political imprisonment, torture, ill-treatment, and other forms of state repression; publishes news, databases, and periodic situation reports.
Human Rights Watch — Belarus — hrw.org/europe/central-asia/belarus — Investigations, reports, and advocacy concerning Belarus’s human-rights crisis.
Amnesty International — Belarus — amnesty.org — Belarus — Reports on human-rights violations and campaigns for political prisoners and others subjected to politically motivated persecution.
Belarusian Helsinki Committee — belhelcom.org — A long-established Belarusian human-rights organization. Liquidated as a registered organization by Belarusian authorities in 2021, it continues its work from outside the country.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) — Belarus — rsf.org/en/country/belarus — Documents attacks on press freedom, including arrests of journalists, newsroom raids, censorship, and the use of “extremism” laws against independent media.
Belarusian Hajun — archived project — hajun.info — An influential open-source intelligence project that monitored Belarusian and Russian military activity. It ceased operations in February 2025 following a serious security breach. Its archives remain valuable, but its former Telegram bot and channel should not be treated as active or safe reporting channels.
Freedom House — Belarus — freedomhouse.org/country/belarus — Publishes Freedom in the World, Freedom on the Net, and related country assessments for Belarus, using published comparative methodologies.
ACADEMIC & POLICY
Journal of Belarusian Studies — brill.com/view/journals/bela — Established in 1965, the oldest English-language periodical devoted to Belarusian studies; peer-reviewed and indexed by Scopus, EBSCO, ERIH PLUS, and Google Scholar. Legacy site and conference archive: belarusjournal.com. Published by Brill.
Anglo-Belarusian Society — absociety.org.uk — Founded in 1954 to advance knowledge of Belarus and Belarusian culture in the United Kingdom; it helped establish the Journal of Belarusian Studies and partners in the Annual London Conference on Belarusian Studies.
NAABS — North American Association for Belarusian Studies — belarusianstudies.org — A scholarly organization promoting research and teaching across Belarusian history, language, literature, sociology, political science, and international relations. Currently inactive; it may resume activity around the November 2026 ASEEES meeting.
Belarus Digest — belarusdigest.com — A policy-oriented analytical portal covering Belarusian politics, economics, law, and society. Publication has become irregular, but its archive remains useful.
OSW — Centre for Eastern Studies (Poland) — osw.waw.pl/en — A Warsaw-based public think tank producing well-regarded English-language analysis of Belarus in its Eastern European and regional-security context.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace — carnegieendowment.org — Publishes analysis of Belarus’s domestic politics and geopolitical role, particularly its relationships with Russia, Ukraine, and Europe.
ASEEES — Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies — aseees.org — The principal North American professional association for the field; its annual convention includes Belarus-related panels, and it publishes Slavic Review.
EUROPEAN HUMANITIES UNIVERSITY (EHU) & SUPPORT
Among the institutions on this list, one has particular significance for our own work: the European Humanities University, a “university-in-exile” that has kept Belarusian higher education alive from abroad for more than two decades.
European Humanities University (EHU) — en.ehuniversity.lt — A Vilnius-based liberal-arts institution advancing civil society through humanities and social-science education. Established in Minsk in 1992, it became a university in exile after Belarusian authorities forced it to close in 2004. It now operates two Vilnius campuses and awards accredited European Union diplomas.
EHU Graduate Programs — EHU master’s programs — Master’s programs include international law and security, business and trade law, gender studies, urban studies, and related fields. Prospective students should consult the current program pages for languages, formats, residency requirements, and admissions information.
American Councils’ Friends of EHU — philanthropic initiatives — A U.S. charitable initiative administered by American Councils for International Education that accepts tax-deductible contributions supporting EHU and its students. Friends of European Humanities University, Inc. is a U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 27-1938165).
American Councils for International Education — americancouncils.org — Has supported EHU for more than thirty years, from its founding in Minsk through its continuing exile in Lithuania, and administers U.S. charitable support for EHU.
NEWS AGGREGATORS & MONITORING
NewsNow — Belarus — Belarus news page — Aggregates reporting on Belarusian politics, sanctions, human rights, the opposition, and regional security from numerous outlets. Useful as a discovery dashboard, but the reliability of individual linked sources varies.
H-Belarus on H-Net — networks.h-net.org/h-belarus — A scholarly network launched in September 2025 for researchers, teachers, students, and others interested in Belarusian studies; carries calls for papers, events, fellowships, publications, and academic discussion.
OFFICIAL BELARUSIAN GOVERNMENT & STATE MEDIA
(For tracking official positions and propaganda.)
BelTA News Agency — belta.by/en — Belarus’s principal state news agency; useful for tracking official government statements and narratives.
Belarus.by — belarus.by/en — An official state information portal covering government, legislation, tourism, and diplomatic positions.
Sovetskaya Belorussiya / Belarus Segodnya — sb.by — A Russian-language newspaper published by the Presidential Administration and a leading state print outlet.
ONT Television — ont.by — A state-controlled national television network reflecting official Belarusian and frequently Kremlin-aligned narratives.
PRACTICAL NOTES
Many independent Belarusian outlets have been designated “extremist” by Belarusian authorities and are blocked inside the country. People in Belarus may face surveillance, detention, or prosecution for subscribing to, sharing, or supplying information to designated sources. Readers inside Belarus should assess the legal and digital-security risks before interacting with any outlet or Telegram channel.
For fast-moving developments, the Telegram channels maintained by established outlets such as Charter 97, NEXTA, Zerkalo, Nasha Niva, Belsat, and Viasna can supplement their websites. Telegram reporting should be independently corroborated. Belarusian Hajun ceased operations in February 2025 and should not be treated as an active or secure reporting channel. NAABS’s website was not reliably accessible during the August 2026 review; H-Belarus and ASEEES are better current points of contact for academic announcements.
The Karski-Swyer Initiative to Promote Belarusian Studies maintains this guide as a living resource. Corrections, additions, and reports of dead links are welcome — the landscape of independent Belarusian media changes quickly, and precisely because it does, it needs to be watched closely.