Alexander Lukashenko facts for kids

In this article, the patronymic is Grigoryevich and the family name is Lukashenko.

Quick facts for kids Alexander Lukashenko
Александр Лукашенко Аляксандр Лукашэнка
Lukashenko in 2024

1st President of Belarus
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 July 1994
Prime Minister	Mikhail Chigir Sergey Ling Vladimir Yermoshin Gennady Novitsky Sergei Sidorsky Mikhail Myasnikovich Andrei Kobyakov Syarhey Rumas Roman Golovchenko
Preceded by	Myechyslaw Hryb (as Chairman of the Supreme Council)
1st Chairman of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 April 2024
Deputy	Aleksandr Kosinets
Preceded by	Office established
Chairman of the Supreme State Council of the Union State
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 January 2000
Chairman of the Council of Ministers	Vladimir Putin Mikhail Kasyanov Mikhail Fradkov Viktor Zubkov Dmitry Medvedev Mikhail Mishustin
General Secretary	Pavel Borodin Grigory Rapota Dmitry Mezentsev
Preceded by	Office established
Member of the Supreme Council of Belarus
In office 25 August 1991 – 20 July 1994
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished

Personal details
Born	Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (1954-08-30) 30 August 1954 (age 70) Kopys, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union (now Belarus)
Political party	Independent (1992–present)
Other political affiliations	Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1979–1991) Communists for Democracy (1991–1992) Belaya Rus (2007–present)
Spouse	Galina Zhelnerovich (m. 1975)
Children	Viktor Dmitry Nikolai
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Economist and collective farmer
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union Belarus
Branch/service	Soviet Border Troops Belarusian Armed Forces
Years of service	1975–1977 1980–1982 1994–present
Rank	Lieutenant colonel

Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician. He has been the President of Belarus since 20 July 1994. This makes him the longest-serving European president.

Early Life and Education
Military and Early Politics
Presidency of Belarus
Personal Life
Awards and Honors
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and Education

Alexander Lukashenko was born on 30 August 1954. His birthplace was Kopys in the Vitebsk Region of what was then the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. He has sometimes said his birthday is 31 August, the same as his son Nikolai's. This is because his mother went to the hospital on August 30 but gave birth after midnight.

Lukashenko grew up without his father. His mother, Ekaterina Trofimovna Lukashenko, worked many jobs. She worked on a railway, at a construction site, and in a flax factory. Later, she was a milkmaid in Alexandria, a small village in eastern Belarus.

He went to Alexandria secondary school. He studied at the Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University and graduated in 1975. He also studied at the Belarusian Agricultural Academy, graduating in 1985.

Military and Early Politics

In 1979, Lukashenko joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After serving in the military, he worked on farms. In 1982, he became the deputy chairman of a collective farm, called a kolkhoz. By 1985, he was the director of a state farm, known as a sovkhoz.

In 1990, Lukashenko was elected as a Deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. This was like being a member of parliament. He became known for speaking out against corruption. In 1993, he was chosen to lead the anti-corruption committee of the Belarusian parliament. He accused some high-ranking government officials of corruption. These accusations led to the resignation of the Supreme Soviet chairman.

Presidency of Belarus

How Belarus is Governed

The way Lukashenko governs Belarus is sometimes called "Lukashism." He presents himself as a "man of the people." When he became president in 1994, Belarus's economy was struggling. He decided to keep many industries under government control. He wanted to make Belarus "powerful and prosperous."

Since a public vote in 1996, Lukashenko has held most of the power in Belarus. His decisions and orders are very important. He also has a lot of control over how the government spends money. Most members of the parliament support him. He also chooses many judges.

Belarus's Economy

Lukashenko's early economic plans aimed to avoid problems seen in other former Soviet countries. He wanted to prevent huge companies from being owned by a few rich people, called oligarchs. He also wanted to avoid widespread unemployment. By 2011, the unemployment rate was very low, at 0.6%. The average income per person also increased.

One challenge for Lukashenko has been the value of the Belarusian currency, the ruble. It has sometimes lost value. In 2011, there was a big drop in its value. Belarus has also received loans from other countries, like China, to help its economy.

Some people who disagree with Lukashenko use the term "Lukashism" to describe his political and economic system. They say it's an authoritarian system. This means the government has a lot of control. It is also linked to a "cult of personality," where people are encouraged to admire him greatly. The US Congress passed a law in 2004 to support groups in Belarus who oppose Lukashenko's government.

Lukashenko's supporters say his leadership helped Belarus avoid problems that other former Soviet countries faced. Lukashenko has said that elections in Belarus are for the Belarusian people. He believes they are the ones who control their country.

COVID-19 Pandemic Response

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lukashenko stated that he was against making vaccination required. He said that vaccination would remain a choice for people in Belarus.

Personal Life

Family and Children

Lukashenko with his sons

Alexander Lukashenko married Galina Zhelnerovich in 1975. They had two sons, Viktor (born 1975) and Dmitry (born 1980). Galina lives separately from him in a village. They are still legally married, but they have not lived together for many years. Lukashenko has said he did not want to divorce because of his adult sons.

Lukashenko also has a younger son, Nikolai, born in 2004. The identity of Nikolai's mother has not been publicly shared. Nikolai was raised by his father. Lukashenko has a pet dog, a spitz named Umka.

Sports and Hobbies

Lukashenko (center) playing hockey with Vladimir Putin (left) in 2014.

Lukashenko used to play football. He is also a big fan of ice hockey and plays it often. He has even started his own amateur team called the Belarus President's team. Many ice rinks have been built across Belarus because of his interest in hockey. Belarus hosted the 2014 IIHF World Championship in ice hockey. They were also supposed to host the 2021 championship, but this was canceled.

As a child, he trained in cross-country running. He still competes at a national level in the 2000s. He also enjoys skiing.

Beliefs

Lukashenko describes himself as an "Orthodox atheist." This means he follows Orthodox traditions but does not believe in God. He believes a president should be a traditional person. He also prefers not to use modern electronic devices like tablets or smartphones. He used to play the bayan, which is a musical instrument similar to an accordion.

Awards and Honors

Alexander Lukashenko in the uniform of the commander-in-chief of the Belarusian Armed Forces in 2001

Lukashenko has received many awards and honors from different countries and organizations. Some of these include:

Medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow" (1997)
Winner of the international premium of Andrey Pervozvanny "For Faith and Loyalty" (1995)
Medal "Bethlehem-2000" (Palestinian National Authority, 2000)
The Order of José Martí (Cuba, 2000)
Order of the Revolution (Libya, 2000)
Special prize of the International Olympic Committee "Gates of Olympus" (2000)
Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd Class (Russia, 2001)
Honorary citizen of Yerevan, Armenia (2001)
Order of St. Dmitry Donskoy, First Degree (by the Russian Orthodox Church) (2005)
Medal of the International Federation of Festival Organizations "For development of the world festival movement" (2005)
Order of St. Cyril (by the Belarusian Orthodox Church) (2006)
Honorary Diploma of the Eurasian Economic Community (2006)
Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, 1st Degree (2007)
Grand Chain of the Order of the Liberator(Venezuela, 2007)
Order of St. Vladimir, First Degree (by the Russian Orthodox Church) (2007)
Keys to the City of Caracas, Venezuela (2010)
Order of Distinguished Citizen (Caracas, Venezuela, 2010)
Order of Francisco Miranda, First Class (Venezuela, 2010)
Order of the Republic of Serbia (2013)
Presidential Order of Excellence (Georgia, 2013)
Order of St. Sava, 1st Degree (2014)
Order of Alexander Nevsky (Russia, August 30 2014)
Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov, 1st Degree (2015) – for protecting the spiritual values of the Belarusian people and helping peace between different faiths.
Badge of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus "For Merit" (Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus, February 11, 2016)
Order of the Republic (Moldova, October 4, 2016) – for helping friendship and cooperation between Belarus and Moldova.
Order of Heydar Aliyev (Azerbaijan, November 28, 2016) – for helping friendly relations and cooperation between Belarus and Azerbaijan.
Order of Nazarbayev (Kazakhstan, 2019)
Ig Nobel Prize (Peace in 2013, Medical Education in 2020)
Honorary Doctor of Science, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. He lost this title on June 7, 2021. This happened because of an event where a plane was forced to land in Belarus. He was the first person in the university's history to lose this title.

Images for kids

President Lukashenko on a postage stamp from 1996
Official ceremony of signing Treaty on Establishing Russian-Belarusian Union at the Kremlin Palace, between the Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Belarusian President Lukashenko, 1997
Alexander Lukashenko standing with Vladimir Putin and Leonid Kuchma at the Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk in 2001
Alexander Lukashenko alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a state-visit to Syria in December 2003
Meeting of Alexander Lukashenko with Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2006
Lukashenko with Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin, December 2008
Dmitry Medvedev and Alexander Lukashenko observed military exercises in Baranavichy, Belarus.
Lukashenko and Putin at the Russian-Belarusian military exercises in 2013
Lukashenko giving a speech in 2014
Lukashenko during a meeting with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in 2016
Lukashenko and Putin in February 2021
Lukashenko during a meeting with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Azerbaijan, April 2021
Lukashenko, Putin, Erdoğan, Xi Jinping, Modi and other leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand, September 2022
A demonstration in Warsaw in 2004, raising awareness about the disappearances of opposition activists in Belarus
With Russian president Vladimir Putin during a news conference in 2002
Lukashenko with Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin in 2020
Meeting of the Russian-led military alliance, Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), in Moscow on 16 May 2022
With U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo in 2020
With Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2023