Ukrainian servicemen fire toward Russian troops with a tank at a position in Donetsk region, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine on August 12, 2022. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)
Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Nayev holds puppies as he visits at positions near the border with Belarus, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zhytomyr region, Ukraine on September 20, 2023. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
A Ukrainian serviceman of 80th Separate Galician Air Assault Brigade makes a snow angel in a bomb crater, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at a position near Bakhmut in Donetsk region, Ukraine on January 25, 2024. (Photo by Inna Varenytsia/Reuters)
Cybermen patrol the National Museum of Scotland before the opening of the Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder exhibition in Edinburgh, Scotland on Wednesday, December 7, 2022. (Photo by Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian)
Members of the Hitler Youth who are trained to report airstrikes repaining their bicycles. Published by: “Die Sirene”. 1942. (Photo by Herbert Hoffmann/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)
LA Coroners leave the Beverly Hilton Hotel possibly carrying the body of the singer Whitney Houston in the early hours of February 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, CA. Singer and film star Whitney Houston aged 48 has died in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. (Photo/Toby Canham/Getty Images)
The earliest historic references to Minsk date to the 11th century 1067, when it was noted as a provincial city within the principality of Polotsk. The settlement developed on the rivers. In 1242, Minsk became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It received town privileges in 1499.