Q 01/05

Which future assassin lived in Minsk from 1960 to 1962, working at a radio and television factory?

A) James Earl Ray

B) Lee Harvey Oswald

C) Sirhan Sirhan

D) Mark David Chapman

Answer · why

B) Lee Harvey Oswald

Lee Harvey Oswald defected to the USSR in 1959 and was sent to Minsk, where he married Marina Prusakova before taking her back to the United States in...

Q 02/05

Belarus borders Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and which fifth state?

A) Estonia

B) Moldova

C) Latvia

D) Slovakia

Answer · why

C) Latvia

Latvia. When it joined the EU in 2004 alongside Lithuania and Poland, more than 1,000 km of Belarus's frontier became the bloc's outer border.

Q 03/05

The name Belarus is usually translated as what?

A) Black Rus'

B) White Rus'

C) Red Rus'

D) Great Rus'

Answer · why

B) White Rus'

White Rus'. Rus' was the medieval East Slavic realm, not Russia, which is why the older English name 'White Russia' is now counted a mistranslation.

Q 04/05

Who became president of Belarus in 1994 and was later labelled "Europe's last dictator"?

A) Alexander Lukashenko

B) Stanislav Shushkevich

C) Vyacheslav Kebich

D) Viktor Yanukovych

Answer · why

A) Alexander Lukashenko

Alexander Lukashenko, a former state-farm director who made his name chairing parliament's anti-corruption committee, won that 1994 vote, and a 2004 r...

Q 05/05

As of 2025, Belarus is the only country in Europe that still does what?

A) Is ruled by a communist party

B) Carries out the death penalty

C) Bans all private companies

D) Has compulsory military service

Answer · why

B) Carries out the death penalty

Carries out the death penalty: Russia keeps it in law but under a long moratorium, and Belarus's executions are one reason its 1993 bid to join the Co...