1 Rouble Belarusian Batleyka

Batleyka is Belarus's traditional puppet theater, documented as early as the 17th century and likely borrowed from Ukrainian and Polish vertep traditions. It survived Soviet suppression by being reclassified as folk art rather than religious performance — the plays were originally tied closely to the Orthodox Christmas cycle.

Belarus has issued collector roubles in this format fairly consistently since the late 1990s, often targeting cultural preservation themes that carry implicit political weight under Lukashenko's government, which has simultaneously promoted Belarusian folk identity while suppressing the political opposition that often rallies around the same cultural symbols.