Hanna Liubakova is a journalist and analyst from Belarus. She is a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council. She has written about the latest developments in Belarus for The Washington Post, The Economist, Deutsche Welle, and other international outlets. Hanna started her career at the only independent Belarusian channel Belsat TV, banned by the regime in Minsk. Liubakova reported in four languages from various countries and regions, including Belgium, the UK, Poland, and Chechnya. She is currently writing a book about Belarus.
Liubakova is widely recognised as one of Belarus's leading voices of the free press. Her coverage of the country's protests against the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenka garnered significant attention. Following the revolution, Hanna was forced to flee Belarus and later learned she was on the regime's wanted list. Despite this, she continued to report on the people's resistance, which became even more crucial amid the Belarusian regime's participation in the war against Ukraine.
Hanna is a prominent commentator on Belarus who frequently provides her insights to various global news outlets such as the BBC, CNN, DW, and Al Jazeera. Thanks to her connections with journalists and people on the ground, her in-depth reporting and analysis have contributed significantly to the global understanding of the complex issues affecting Belarus and its people.
In 2021, Liubakova was a European Press Prize finalist. In 2019, she was the first fellow from Belarus chosen to participate in the World Press Institute Fellowship in the US. Hanna holds an MA with distinction in International Journalism from Brunel University London, where she won the Peter Caws Prize for best postgraduate dissertation in 2017. She also received the Vaclav Havel Journalism Fellowship at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2014.