  stanislav stanislavovich shushkevich (, Åacinka: stanisÅaÅ­ stanisÅavaviÄ Å uÅ¡kieviÄ; ; born december 15, 1934 in minsk) is a belarusian politician and scientist. in the early 1960s, he was in charge of teaching lee harvey oswald russian when oswald lived in minsk. from september 28, 1991 to january 26, 1994 he was the first leader and head of state of independent belarus after the dissolution of the soviet union (chairman of the supreme soviet - also chairman of parliament). he supported free market and democratic reforms and played a key role in the creation of the commonwealth of independent states. as a scientist, he is a corresponding member of the belarusian academy of sciences, doctor in physics and mathematics, recipient of various state awards, professor, and the author and originator of textbooks and over 150 articles and 50 inventions. ==political activity== on december 8, 1991, in belavezhskaya pushcha and together with the leaders of russia (boris yeltsin) and ukraine (leonid kravchuk), he signed a declaration that the soviet union was dissolved and replaced by the commonwealth of independent states; the declaration later became known as the "belavezha accords". shushkevich withdrew from belarus the vestigial soviet nuclear arsenal (both tactical and strategic), without preconditions or compensation from russia or the west. however, other reforms became stalled due to the opposition from a hostile parliament as well as from prime minister vyacheslav kebich. in late 1993, alexander lukashenko, the then-chairman of the anti-corruption committee of the belarusian parliament, accused 70 senior government officials, including shushkevich, of corruption, including stealing state funds for personal purposes. lukashenko's accusations forced a vote of confidence, which shushkevich lost. shushkevich was replaced by vyacheslav kuznetsov and later by myechyslau hryb. some claim that the
1934_births Belarusian_State_University_alumni Belarusian_scientists Candidates_for_President_of_Belarus Living_people Members_of_the_Supreme_Soviet_of_the_Republic_of_Belarus People_from_Minsk Presidents_of_Belarus Soviet_scientists