Intense clashes in Belarus' capital Minsk as security forces sought to violently disperse thousands of protesters who gathered for the second day in a row to demand that the country's authoritarian leader step down following a contested election.
Large crowds of protesters filled several parts of central Minsk, as police and heavily armed interior ministry troops indiscriminately attacked them, throwing stun grenades and reportedly firing rubber bullets. Authorities saidThe protests appeared to be swelling and demonstrators became increasingly emboldened, with police struggling to disperse them. On some streets, video appeared to show demonstrators using garbage dumpsters to build barricades and firing fireworks at the police officers.
Tikhanovskaya, 37, a former teacher and stay-at-home mother, has become the head of the swelling protest movement and in the weeks before the election attracted the largest political demonstrations in Belarus since the fall of the Soviet Union. Lukashenko, 65, often known as"Europe's last dictator," has been in power for 26 years. The current protests are seen by many as an unprecedented challenges to his rule.
"I warned there won't be a Maidan, no matter who wanted it," Lukashenko said earlier on Monday, according to Belarus' state news agency, referring to Ukraine's popular revolution in 2014 that toppled an autocratic president."And so it has to be quietened down, to be calmed down. The response will be adequate. We will not allow them to blow up the country."
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