The article reports on the developments in Belarus and its relations with Ukraine, Russia, and other countries. Some of the key points are:
* Belarus has been involved in prisoner swaps between Ukraine and Russia, including exchanging 103 Russian prisoners of war from Ukraine in September and another 95 in October.
* The country also released five Ukrainian citizens imprisoned in Belarus on politically motivated grounds as part of a Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap in July.
* In August, Belarus pardoned German citizen Rico Krieger, who had been sentenced to capital punishment for espionage, and returned him as part of an historic East–West prisoner swap.
* The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, and nine other human rights organizations have called on state parties to the Rome Statute to endorse Lithuania‘s request to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the Belarusian authorities‘ alleged crimes against humanity.
* Lithuania has formally requested that the ICC investigate the Belarusian regime for its alleged crimes against humanity, including mass deportation.
* The ICC prosecutor general confirmed the receipt of the referral and is conducting a preliminary examination to determine whether an investigation will be opened.