A True Verdict On Lukashenko's Years In Power

The scale of the demographic crisis is staggering.

Schools in the Gomel Region are preparing to welcome more than 13,500 first-graders in 2026, according to a statement made on state television by Elena Kovaleva, deputy head of the Main Department of Education of the Gomel Regional Executive Committee.

The official report does not provide a comparison of this figure with previous years. This was done by “Flagstok”.

In September 2025, 14,800 first-graders started school in the Gomel region—meaning there are approximately 1,300 fewer first-graders this year. A comparison shows that the trend of a deteriorating demographic situation in the region continues.

The head of the Gomel Regional Executive Committee contradicted himself and lied about the demographic situation in the region

Over the past year, the number of first-graders in the region has decreased by 700 children, rather than increasing by 430, as Krupko claims.

In 2024, approximately 15,500 first-graders were enrolled. This means that over the past two years, the number of first-graders in the region has decreased by 2,000. Official statistics on the total number of students in the Gomel Region, as well as the number of schools and other educational institutions, have not yet been published.

It should be noted that during Lukashenko’s years in power, the country has experienced a veritable demographic catastrophe.

Birth rates are indeed falling all around us. But nowhere are they falling as rapidly as in Belarus.

Last year, 58,938 children were born in the country. This is 1.5 times less than the 2019 level, when Belstat last published official data. In 2015, when the birth rate in modern-day Belarus peaked, 119,028 children were born that year.

The birth rate in Belarus stood at 6.5 children per 1,000 people. In Lithuania last year, 7.7 children were born per 1,000 people. In Poland, the figure was 6.7. The Eurasian Union fares even better. In Kazakhstan, the birth rate last year was 18 children per 1,000 people. In Armenia, it was 11.2. And even in Russia, which complains of a catastrophic demographic situation, more than eight children were born per 1,000 people last year.

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