MKAD is an abbreviation of Minsk Automobile Ring Road (Belarusian: Мінская кальцавая аўтамабільная дарога; Russian: Минская кольцевая автомобильная дорога).

The decision was met with controversy as the route passed through Kurapaty, north of Minsk, site of a mass grave of victims of the Soviet secret police, the NKVD, during the Great Purge of 1937-1941.

Protesters accused Lukashenko, who does not recognize the Kurapaty case and never mentions it in public, of planning to destroy the site and build over the graves of its victims in a deliberate attempt to cover over a Soviet crime against humanity.

MKAD has come closer to resembling a freeway, due to the elimination of traffic lights, the prohibition of left turns at grade level, and the installation of streetlights along its entire route.

The roadway has implanted devices that measure surface condition, dewpoint, wind speed and direction, visibility, air temperature and other parameters.