Belarus endures Russification as native language fades away in schools

When school started this year for Mikalay in Belarus, the 15-year-old discovered that his teachers and administrators no longer called him by that name. Instead, they referred to him as Nikolai, its Russian equivalent.

What's more, classes at his school — one of the country's best — are now taught in Russian, not Belarusian, which he has spoken for most of his life.

Belarusians like Mikalay are experiencing a new wave of Russification as Moscow expands its economic, political and cultural dominance to overtake the identity of its neighbour.

This isn't unprecedented. During the czarist and Soviet eras, Russia imposed its language, symbols, and cultural institutions on Belarus. However, after the USSR dissolved in 1991, Belarus began to reclaim its identity. Belarusian briefly became the official language, and the white-red-white national flag replaced the Soviet-era red hammer and sickle.

The situation shifted in 1994 when Alexander Lukashenko, a former Soviet collective farm official, came to power. He made Russian an official language alongside Belarusian and removed the nationalist symbols.

Now, with Lukashenko in power for over three decades, he has permitted Russia to dominate various aspects of life in Belarus, a nation of 9.5 million. Belarusian is rarely heard on the streets of Minsk and other large cities. Official business is conducted in Russian, which also dominates the media. Lukashenko speaks only Russian, and government officials often avoid using Belarusian.

The country relies on Russian loans and cheap energy, forming a political and military alliance with Moscow. This alliance allows President Vladimir Putin to station troops and missiles in Belarus, using it as a staging area for the war in Ukraine.

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