[ad_1]
At least 100,000 Belarusian protesters took to the streets of capital Minsk on Sunday in a single of the most important anti-government demonstrations ahead of crunch talks between President Alexander Lukashenko and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
A wave of protests has swept Belarus because the August 9 presidential election, which demonstrators say was really received by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
Lukashenko denied the polls have been rigged and has blamed overseas powers for the protests.
At least 250 protesters have been arrested, police mentioned. “Some 250 people were detained in various districts of the capital,” the inside ministry mentioned in a press release, including that these detained have been carrying flags and “offensive” placards. Despite the crackdown, demonstrations present no signal of fading and Lukashenko has made no concessions.
Putin, who hosts Lukashenko for talks in Sochi on Monday, is decided opposition demonstrators received’t topple the Belarusian president, mentioned 5 individuals near the Kremlin, who requested to not be recognized discussing inside coverage.
The disaster engulfing Moscow’s closest accomplice echoes revolts that swept away pro-Kremlin leaders in Ukraine and Armenia since 2014, and comes weeks after Putin modified Russia’s structure to permit him to increase his two-decade rule probably to 2036.
“Belarus is of huge importance,” mentioned Mikhail Vinogradov, who heads the St Petersburg Politics Foundation. “Putin doesn’t want to end up on the losing side.” The Russian management was stunned by the size of the unrest in Belarus, the individuals near the Kremlin mentioned.
While Moscow doesn’t belief Lukashenko, it might’t settle for the opposition coming to energy.
[ad_2]
Source hyperlink