Galina Lukashenko

First Lady of Belarus

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is  Rodionovna and the family name is  Lukashenko.

Galina Lukashenko

Галіна Лукашэнка
Галина Лукашенко
First Lady of Belarus

Incumbent

Assumed role
20 July 1994
President| Alexander Lukashenko
Preceded by| Position established
Personal details
Born|

Galina Rodionovna Zhelnerovich

(1955-01-01) 1 January 1955 (age 70)
Ryzhkovichi, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union (now Belarus)
Spouse|

Alexander Lukashenko

(m. 1975)​

Children|

* Viktor
* Dmitry

Alma mater| Mogilev State Pedagogical Institute (now Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University)

Galina Rodionovna Lukashenko (Belarusian: Галіна Радзівонаўна Лукашэнка, romanized: Halina Radzivonaŭna Łukašenka, Галіна Радыёнаўна Лукашэнка, Halina Radyjonaŭna Łukašenka, Russian: Галина Родионовна Лукашенко), née Zhelnerovich (Russian: Желнерович, Belarusian: Жаўняровіч, romanized: Žaŭniarovič) is the First Lady of Belarus since 1994.[1]

## Biography

[edit]

She was born on 1 January 1955 in the family of Rodion Georgievich Zhelnerovich (1928-1983) from Brest and Elena Fedorovna Zhelnerovich (1929-2019)[2] from Slutsk.[3] She met Alexander Lukashenko while still in high school in the village of Ryzhkovichi, and married him in 1975, upon graduation from the Mogilev State Pedagogical Institute (now Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University).[4][5]

She did not move with her husband to Minsk at the beginning of his presidential career, instead living on Zemlyanichnaya Street in Shklow, where she has since lived.[6] She does not accompany her husband at public events and was rarely seen with him.[7] The last time when the couple was seen together was the year Lukashenko was elected, when he was on a state visit to Israel.[8]

Lukashenka and her husband are reportedly separated, and she is not the mother of Nikolai Lukashenko, born in 2004.

## International sanctions

[edit]

On 15 March 2022, Galina Lukashenka was added to the US Treasury sanctions list - designated under Executive Order 13405 for "being a senior-level official who is responsible for or has engaged in public corruption related to Belarus" by the Office of Foreign Assets Control as a Specially Designated National under the Magnitsky Act. She has also been sanctioned by the US Department of State.[9][10][11] On 25 March 2022, she was sanctioned by Australia.[12] Later that year, Galina was blacklisted by New Zealand[13] and Ukraine.[14]

In January 2025, Galina Lukahsenko was added to the sanctions list of Canada.[15]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Биографические Страницы". www.kommersant.ru. 8 March 2004.
2. ^ "На 90-м году жизни скончалась тёща Лукашенко Елена Желнерович". Политринг - Новости Беларуси.
3. ^ правды», Сайт «Комсомольской (8 March 2007). "Теща президента Елена ЖЕЛНЕРОВИЧ: Я своим дочкам не даю никаких советов". kp.by - Сайт «Комсомольской правды».
4. ^ «Биографические страницы: Первые леди», Коммерсант.ru
5. ^ "Интервью с Александром Лукашенко". Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
6. ^ "Кто живет в бывшем доме Лукашенко". The Village Беларусь. 2 November 2019.
7. ^ правды», Сайт «Комсомольской (1 October 2005). "Галина ЛУКАШЕНКО: Я сама приняла решение не ехать в Минск". kp.by - Сайт «Комсомольской правды».
8. ^ "Красавицы гарема Лукашенко: кого любит президент Белоруссии". www.mk.ru. 7 August 2020.
9. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Russians Connected to Gross Human Rights Violations and Corrupt Leader of Belarus". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
10. ^ "USA places Lukashenko's wife on sanctions list". Interfax-Ukraine. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
11. ^ "Public Listing, Fiscal Year 2022". state.gov.
12. ^ "Australia places additional sanctions on Russia and Belarus". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Media release). 25 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
13. ^ Nanaia Mahuta (21 November 2022). "Further sanctions on the political and economic elites of Russia and Belarus". Government of New Zealand. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
14. ^ "LUKASHENKO Galina Rodionovna". National Agency for Prevention of Corruption. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
15. ^ "Backgrounder: Sanctions against individuals and entities in Belarus". Government of Canada. 25 January 2025.

*[m.]: married