(11) The Government of Belarus, led by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, has criminalized access to independent media sources and media channels, including foreign media, by designating such sources and channels as extremist and conducting arbitrary arrests and detainments of media workers, activists, and users. (12) The Government of Belarus, led by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, continues a systematic campaign of harassment, repression, and closure of nongovernmental organizations, including independent trade unions and entrepreneurs, creating a climate of fear that inhibits the development of civil society and social solidarity. (13) The Government of Belarus, led by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, has pursued a policy undermining the country’s sovereignty and independence by making Belarus political, economic, cultural, and societal interests subservient to those of Russia. (14) Against the will of the majority of the Belarusian people, Russian President Vladimir Putin has propped up the Alyaksandr Lukashenka regime, including by offering security assistance, providing significant financial support, and sending Russian propagandists to help disseminate pro-regime and pro-Kremlin propaganda on Belarus state television. (15) Efforts by the Government of the Russian Federation to subsume Belarus into its sphere of influence and consider Belarus as part of the Russian empire or as a Union State include security, political, economic, and ideological integration between Russia and Belarus, which intensified in 2020 after President Putin supported Mr. Lukashenka’s illegitimate election and resulted in the Government of Belarus permitting Russian troops to use Belarusian territory to conduct military exercises ahead of the February 2022 further invasion of Ukraine and staging part of the February 2022 further invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian territory, including by providing Russia with the use of airbases which allowed Russia to shoot artillery and missiles from Belarusian territory into Ukraine. (16) The United States Government and