Lukashenko Addresses Flood Risks in Belarus: Should People Be Worried?

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has assured the public that there is no imminent threat of major floods this year, despite the snowy winter the country experienced. He made this statement during a meeting on personnel decisions, according to BELTA.

“I want to publicly clarify that anyone expecting significant flooding in 2026 is mistaken,” Lukashenko said. “Where there is snow, it fell during cold weather. When temperatures drop to minus 20-30 degrees Celsius, the snow isn’t settled — it lies in heaps. But once the thaw begins, it compresses and settles. I’ve observed this myself in the forests and fields. The snow cover is no more than 20-30 centimeters high — mostly where the snowdrifts have accumulated due to wind,” he explained.

At the same time, the President acknowledged that this winter’s snowfall surpassed previous years: “The Emergency Situations Ministry is correctly preparing for potential floods. There has been more snow than usual. However, it won’t be much — it’s been compacted. The thaw that started in late February and early March has settled the snow, and now there isn’t a large amount of it.”