Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus (, ), also known as Republic Day or Liberation Day is a

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...

, the

independence day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and is celebrated each year on 3 July. Independence Day is a non-working day.

History

3 July 1944 was the day of Soviet liberation of

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

from the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

during the

Minsk Offensive The Minsk offensive () was part of the second phase of the Belorussian strategic offensive of the Red Army in summer 1944, commonly known as Operation Bagration. The Red Army encircled the German 4th Army (Wehrmacht), Fourth Army in the city of ...

(code-named "Bagration"). The decision to celebrate Independence Day on 3 July, the day of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazis, from 27 July, the day of the Declaration of Sovereignty of Belarus in breaking away from the Soviet Union, was made during a controversial national referendum held in 1996 proposed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

. Prior to the 1996 change, July 3 was celebrated locally in Minsk as simply Minsk Day. Since waves of unrest began in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, particularly in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, the countries in those regions sought independence from the Soviet Union. In Belarus, from 1991 to 1995 Independence Day was celebrated on 27 July, the day of the Declaration of Sovereignty of Belarus. This event was Belarus' declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. On 25 August 1991, after the August events in Moscow, the Byelorussian SSR gave the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Republic constitutional status. On 19 September 1991, the Permanent Representative of the Byelorussian SSR Hienadz Buraukin informed the office of the

Secretary General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

that the country would officially henceforth be known simply as "Belarus". On 10 December 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Belarus

ratified Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...

the

Belavezha Accords The Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (officially), or unofficially the Minsk Agreement and best known as the Belovezha Accords, is the agreement declaring that the Soviet Union (USSR) had effectively ceased t ...

, which formally declared the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

. Independence was formally received 26 December 1991 in connection with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Controversy

There is a public debate in Belarus regarding the appropriate date to be considered Independence Day.Belarus' Three Independence Days
by Paula Borowska. BelarusDigest, July 28, 2014 Since the early 1920s, various Belarusian political movements and the

Belarusian diaspora The Belarusian diaspora () refers to emigrants from Belarus which includes their descendants. According to different researchers, there are between 2.5 and 3.5 million Belarusian descendants living outside the territory of the Republic of Bel ...

have been celebrating Independence Day on 25 March as the anniversary of the 1918 declaration of independence by the

Belarusian Democratic Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; , ), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The ...

. The date is still widely celebrated by members of the democratic opposition in Belarus and by the

Freedom Day Freedom Day may refer to any of the following days: National and international * National Religious Freedom Day on 16 January in the United States, to commemorate the adoption of Thomas Jefferson's landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedo ...

Events

The main event of Independence Day is a

military parade A military parade is a formation of military personnels whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as Drill team, drilling or marching. Large military parades are today held on major holidays and military events around the ...

of the Belarusian Armed Forces's Minsk Garrison. Parades are also held in

Barysaw Barysaw or Borisov (, ; , ) is a city in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Barysaw District. It is located on the Berezina, Berezina River and north-east from the capital Minsk. As of 2025, it has a population of 1 ...

Gomel Gomel (, ) or Homyel (, ) is a city in south-eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Gomel Region and Gomel District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it is the List of cities and largest ...

, Brest, Dzyarzhynsk, Haradok,

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

and

Mogilev Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...

. After the official part, the holiday social events start. A solemn ceremony headed by the

President of Belarus The president of the Republic of Belarus is the head of state of Belarus. The office was created in 1994 with the passing of the Constitution of Belarus by the Supreme Council of Belarus, Supreme Council. This replaced the office of Supreme_Counc ...

is held in the

Independence Palace The Independence Palace (), also publicly and officially known as the Reunification Convention Hall or simply Reunification Hall (), is a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), Vietnam. It was designed by architect Ngô Vi� ...

the preceding day. Recently, in 2014 and 2019, the holiday has been celebrated with even more importance due to it celebrating the 70th and 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus respectively. In both instances, the annual parade took place at nine o'clock in the evening and included cadets form the Military Academy dressed up as Soviet-era Belarusian Partisans. In the latter celebration, the Russian Defence Ministry conducted a fireworks display in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in honor of the anniversary. In 2021, the parade was cancelled due to the 2020 Belarusian protests, with a ceremony being held at the Mound of Glory.

Social events

Throughout the country celebrations and festivities are held. In the evening in Minsk fireworks are arranged. A series of concerts and events are held in

, with a special emphasis on the Belarusian identity. A national campaign called ''Let's Sing the Anthem Together'' () for everyone capable to sing the national anthem (''

My Belarusy The State Anthem of the Republic of Belarus, better known as "We Belarusians", is the national anthem of Belarus. It was originally written in the 1940s and adopted in 1955 for use in the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, Byelorussian Soviet ...

'') at a certain time has occurred annually in recent years. For those of the Catholic faith, the religious hymn "Almighty God" () is sung at the end of mass on 3 July.

State visits associated with the holiday

Inauguration of a center in the Belarusian Great Patriotic War Museum

In 1974, President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

arrived in

during a

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of state, head of a sovereign state, sovereign country (or Governor-general, representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or ...

to the

Belarusian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...

to attend celebrations in honor of the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus. Attending the 2013 parade were the Presidents of

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...

and Choummaly Sayasone, respectively. In 2014, Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

visited Belarus on the eve of Independence Day, attending the inauguration of the Belarusian Great Patriotic War Museum. During the 2019 celebrations, Azerbaijani defense minister

Zakir Hasanov Zakir Asger oghlu Hasanov (; born 6 June 1959) is an Azerbaijani politician and colonel general who has been the Ministry of Defence (Azerbaijan), Minister of Defence of Azerbaijan since 2013. Early life and education He was born on 6 June 1959 ...

, Commander Russian

Western Military District The Western Military District () was a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia, in existence from 2010 until its abolishment as a unitary military command on February 26, 2024, succeeded by the newly reconstituted Moscow Mil ...

Viktor Astapov, and Uzbek army chief Pavel Ergashev were in attendance.

References

{{Belarus topics