Issued to mark the 60th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, this Belarusian commemorative came at a politically charged moment — Lukashenko's government had made the war's memory a central pillar of national identity, and the 60th anniversary saw state-sponsored commemorations on a scale exceeding those of most former Soviet republics. Belarus lost an estimated quarter of its entire population during the German occupation, the highest proportional loss of any Soviet territory.
Issued to mark the 60th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, this Belarusian commemorative came at a politically charged moment — Lukashenko's government had made the war's memory a central pillar of national identity, and the 60th anniversary saw state-sponsored commemorations on a scale exceeding those of most former Soviet republics. Belarus lost an estimated quarter of its entire population during the German occupation, the highest proportional loss of any Soviet territory.