Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree enacting a decision of the country’s National Security and Defence Council to impose sanctions on Aliaksandr Lukashenka.
The sanctions предусматривают deprivation of Ukrainian state awards, asset freezes, restrictions on trade operations, limitations on transit, a ban on participation in privatisation and other measures — 17 in total.
The Office of the President of Ukraine said the sanctions were introduced, among other reasons, over the deployment in the second half of 2025 of a system of relay transmitters for controlling strike drones, which increased the ability of Russian forces to attack the country’s northern regions. The statement also said that more than 3,000 Belarusian enterprises supply Russia with machinery, equipment and components, including for missile production.
“The development of infrastructure for deploying intermediate-range missiles — the ‘Oreshnik’ — on the territory of Belarus is also continuing. This is an obvious threat not only to Ukrainians, but to all Europeans. Aliaksandr Lukashenka has not only provided Belarusian territory for the ‘Oreshnik’. Last year, enterprises in the country supplied Russia with critical units, components and the mechanical base for this weapon. This continues in 2026. Aliaksandr Lukashenka has long been exchanging Belarus’s sovereignty for the continuation of his personal power,” Zelensky was quoted as saying in the release.
It was also noted that Lukashenka facilitated the involvement of Belarusian officials in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Zelensky stressed that Ukraine would intensify its counteraction to all forms of assistance by Lukashenka in the killing of Ukrainians.
“We will work with our partners so that this has a global effect,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
“Aliaksandr Lukashenka has long been trading Belarus’s sovereignty for the extension of his own power, helping Russians circumvent sanctions for this aggression, actively justifying Russia’s war, and now further increasing his own participation in scaling up and prolonging the war. There will be separate consequences for this,” he added.
The Office of the Ukrainian president added that sanctions against Lukashenka have already been imposed by the European Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, Switzerland and New Zealand.
“We have long observed the systematic involvement of Belarusian companies in circumventing EU sanctions. This includes the supply of components, logistics routes and financial services. The sanctions regime against Belarus should be aligned with the sanctions regime against the Russian Federation,” said Vladyslau Vlasiuk, adviser and authorised representative of the President of Ukraine for sanctions policy.
