KGB

From Russian КГБ (KGB), acronym of Комите́т госуда́рственной безопа́сности (Komitét gosudárstvennoj bezopásnosti, “State Security Committee”).

President Putin's KGB roots have sadly informed a style of governance that is neither reformist nor particularly democratic. The common thread throughout his domestic and foreign policies is his effort to trade on fear -- the fears of Russians that their country is under attack from hostile external forces (Chechens, NATO or free marketeers); and the fears of Westerners that if not for a strong, pragmatic leader, Russia will again become unruly, unstable and potentially aggressive.

2001 January 4, Garry Kasparov, “The Russian President Trades on Fear”, in The Wall Street Journal, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2015-01-09, International:

But in 1967 Treholt's trenchant opposition to the Vietnam War attracted the attention of the KGB.

2019 [2018], Ben Macintyre, chapter 4, in The Spy and the Traitor, Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 75:

security service
security service#English

(historical) The Committee for State Security of the Soviet Union (the Soviet security service).


Belarus

Borrowed from Belarusian Белару́сь (Bjelarúsʹ).

bor+

Republic of Belarus
Republic of Belarus#English

A country in Eastern Europe. Official name: Republic of Belarus. Capital and largest city: Minsk.


White Russia

Calque of Russian Бе́лая Русь (Bélaja Rusʹ). Cognate with German Weißrussland, German Low German Wittrussland, Dutch Wit-Rusland, Afrikaans Wit-Rusland, Danish Hviderusland, Faroese Hvítarussland, Swedish Vitryssland, Norwegian Bokmål Hviterussland, Norwegian Nynorsk Kviterussland, Icelandic Hvíta-Rússland, Limburgish Wit-Rusland, Alemannic German Wiissrussland, among others.

calque

(archaic) An archaic literal translation for Belarus, a country in Eastern Europe.


White Russian

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-White Russian.wav

(cocktail): The word white refers to the milk, while Russian refers to the vodka.

(obsolete) Of or relating to Belarus, literally "White Russia," or its language.


oblast

From a Slavic language, probably Russian о́бласть (óblastʹ, “region, province”), borrowed from Old Church Slavonic область (oblastĭ), from Proto-Slavic *obolstь, from earlier *obvolstь, *obvoldtь, a compound of *o(b)- (“over”) + *volstь (“rule, power, authority”), thus originally probably meaning "a region ruled over". Compare Proto-Slavic *obvoldati (“to rule”).

der

The territorial subdivision below the level of the union republic — or at least below the level of the larger union republics — is that of the oblast, the krai, or the autonomous republic. In 1977 there were 120 oblasts, 6 krais, and 20 autonomous republics, and they corresponded roughly to the American state in size.

1979, Jerry Fincher Hough, How the Soviet Union Is Governed, page 483:

It is important to note, however, that the general pattern of Nizhnii Novgorod oblast at the top and Tiumen' and Yaroslavl' oblasts in the middle, with Saratov at the bottom, occurred too often across all indicators to assume that even those differences in means that were not significant at a .05 confidence level or better occurred merely by chance.

2002, Kathryn Stoner-Weiss, Local Heroes: The Political Economy of Russian Regional Governance, page 119:

Almaty oblast (distinct from Almaty city) is the most rural of Kazakhstan's oblasts, at just 22.2 percent urban.

2010, Martha Brill Olcott, Kazakhstan: Unfulfilled Promise, page 194:

A region or province in Slavic or Slavic-influenced countries.


Minsk

From Russian Минск (Minsk) or Belarusian Мінск (Minsk).

Мѣнскъ

forms with ѣ replaced with е also recorded in later periods


sloboda

Borrowed from Russian слобода́ (slobodá), which is related to a common Slavic word for “freedom”, in reference to such settlements' initial freedom from taxes and forced labor duties.

A kind of settlement, village, or suburb in the history of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

слабада́

a kind of settlement in the history of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine


Byelorussian SSR

/ˌbjɛləˈrʌʃən.ɛsɛsˈɑ(ɹ)/

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, the name for Bolshevik Belarus which became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union (1919–1991), member of the United Nations since 1945.

belorusiis sabč̣ota socialisṭuri resṗubliḳa

ბელორუსიის საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა


Byelorussian

/ˌbjɛləˈɹʌʃən/


Rus

en-proper noun

Rus (countable and uncountable, plural Rus)

Earlier form Russ from German Russe etc., from Old East Slavic Русь (Rusĭ). More recent use influenced by Russian Русь (Rusʹ), from Old East Slavic Русь (Rusĭ). Use with macron was probably influenced by the transliteration of Arabic رُوس (rūs).
Compare Russ, Russian, Russie, Russniak, Rusyn, Ruthenian.
Also compare Swedish Ryss, Dutch Rus, German Russe, French Russe, Byzantine Greek Ῥῶς (Rhôs), Russian Русь (Rusʹ), Belarusian Русь (Rusʹ), Ukrainian Русь (Rusʹ). Also compare Russian ру́сский (rússkij, “Ethnic Russian, of Rus”), россия́нин (rossijánin, “Russian national”), Росси́я (Rossíja, “Russia”).
See further Etymology of Rus and derivatives.

Ռուսիա

any of the medieval East Slavic principalities

Kievan Rus', the medieval East Slavic state established by these same warrior merchants in the 9th century, whose capital was in Kiev.


knez

From Belarusian князь (knjazʹ) and Ukrainian князь (knjazʹ) (from Old Ruthenian кнѧзь (knjazʹ)) and Russian князь (knjazʹ); all from Old East Slavic кънѧзь (kŭnęzĭ), кнѧзь (knęzĭ), from Proto-Slavic *kъ̏nędzь (“prince”), from earlier *kъnęgъ, by consensus ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz (“king”). Doublet of cyning and king.

(historical) A leader of the Vlach (or Romanian) communities in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary.


Mstsislaw

a town in the Mahiloŭ Province of Belarus


Kievan Rus

(historical) A medieval principality in Eastern Europe centred around Kiev; considered an early predecessor of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.


Belorussia

Transliteration of Russian Белоруссия (Belorussija) (older spelling: Бѣлоруссія (Bělorussija)).


Trasyanka

From Belarusian трася́нка (trasjánka, “low quality mixed grains”), related to трэсці́ (trescí, “to shake”) (3rd person plural - трасу́ць).

uder

A pidgin language or interlanguage combining elements of Russian and Belarusian, spoken in Belarus.


vyshyvanka

en-noun

vyshyvanka (plural vyshyvankas or vyshyvanky)

vyshyvankas (plural)
vyshyvanky (plural)

From Ukrainian вишива́нка (vyšyvánka). Compare Belarusian вышыва́нка (vyšyvánka).

Traditional Ukrainian and Belarusian clothing, featuring elements of Ukrainian and Belarusian ethnic embroidery.

вышыва́нка

traditional Ukrainian and Belarusian clothing


krupnik

A traditional alcoholic drink made from vodka (or other grain spirit) and honey, popular in Poland, Belarus, and Lithuania.


rushnyk

From Belarusian рушні́к (rušník), ручні́к (ručník) or Ukrainian рушни́к (rušnýk).

A cloth/towel embroidered with symbols and cryptograms of the ancient world, used in Eastern Slavic ceremonies.


ruchnik

From Russian ручни́к (ručník) or Belarusian ручні́к (ručník).


knyaz

(historical) Alternative form of knez (“duke or prince in medieval Slavic countries”)


OMON

From Russian ОМО́Н (OMÓN), Отря́д Ми́лиции Осо́бого Назначе́ния (Otrjád Mílicii Osóbovo Naznačénija, “detachment of special-purpose police”).

Special Purpose Mobile Unit, the riot police in Russia and Belarus.

АМА́П

Special Purpose Mobile Unit, a law enforcement force in Russia and Belarus


Lukashism

From Lukashenko + -ism or borrowed from Russian лукаши́зм (lukašízm).

(neologism) The political and economic system created by Alexander Lukashenko / Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

лукашы́зм

the political and economic system created by Alexander Lukashenko


Suwalki gap

And on the A4 autobahn in eastern Germany, a U.S. Army captain and his Macedonian counterpart rushed toward the Suwalki Gap — the place many war planners predict will be the flashpoint for a NATO war with Russia — hoping the overheated radiator on their Stryker armored combat vehicle wouldn’t kill the engine.

2024 April 24, Helene Cooper, “NATO Puts on a Show of Force in the Shadow of Russia’s War”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

The strip of NATO-controlled territory along the Polish–Lithuanian border, separating Russia (Kaliningrad) from its ally Belarus.


Belarusian People's Republic

Calque of Belarusian Белару́ская Наро́дная Рэспу́бліка (Bjelarúskaja Naródnaja Respúblika).

calque

Белару́ская Наро́дная Рэспу́бліка

The first state of Belarus (1918–19). Government in exile (1919 - current)


Biełaruś

Unadapted borrowing from Belarusian Biełaruś.

ubor

Scattered throughout the world, perishing, dwining, / You still await the Promised One, O Jews, / For Him the sons of Biełaruś are pining, / And thither all will go, both we and you. / Your torch is bright where Palestine is waiting, / Our torch is bright—in Mother-Biełaruś, / The time will come when chains will fall and vanish, / Our chains will fall; all spring will flower for us.

1960, Anti-Semitism in Byelorussia and Its Origin: Material for Historical Research and Study of the Subject, London: Byelorussian Central Council, page 68:

Marzaliuk ends his examination of Biełarusian anti-Semitism in the gdl by stating that, without acknowledging the existence of some anti-Semitism in historic Biełaruś, Biełarusians will never understand their distinctiveness in this regard: for even though this particular type of racism existed in the gdl, it never came close to the evil practised by some of Biełaruś’s neighbours.

2018, Zina J. Gimpelevich, The Portrayal of Jews in Modern Biełarusian Literature, Montreal, Que.: McGill-Queen’s University Press, →ISBN, page 42:

Respectfully, the present study calls the reader’s attention to the historical part, supplemented by biographical data from the early representatives of Biełaruś’s artistic growth. This is followed by an exploration of Biełaruś’s present-day artistic community, and finally, the circle will be closed with an attempt to imagine a future “beginning of the beginning” for Biełaruś and its artists.

2023, Zina Gimpelevich, “Fine Art in Biełaruś: The Past”, in Biełarusian Fine Art: Time and Time Again: Origin, History, Discourse, and Biographies, Altona, Man.: FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 21:

(rare) Belarus (a country in Eastern Europe; official name: Republic of Belarus; capital and largest city: Minsk)