Demonstrated demonstration The procession of the new Belarus, started in Independence Square near the Government House and went to the hotel Planet, where a rally is planned.
However, some of the protesters walked along the Winners’ Avenue to the State Flag Square. However, as they approached the Independence Palace, where Lukashenko’s working residence is located, the further road along the Victory Avenue and access to the Independence Castle was immediately blocked by the Omani, who also surrounded the State Flag Square. There are also two armored personnel carriers near the Independence Castle.
Shortly afterwards, a helicopter landed at Independence Castle. The footage shown by the TV channel “Dozhj” shows that Lukashenko gets out of it with a Kalashnikov machine in his hand and goes to the castle.
According to various media reports, more than 100,000 people have arrived at Independence Square near the government building and the surrounding streets in Minsk. Those in Independence Square observed a moment of silence in protest of the protesters who lost their lives when the militia used force against the protesters. https://t.co/D8HDmwSPEf
– LTV News Service (@ltvzinas) August 23, 2020
The protesters had not yet left when the helicopter landed at Independence Palace. Belarusian state news agencies BelTA The video shows that Lukashenko gets out of it in a vest with a Kalashnikov machine gun in his hand and goes to the castle, he is accompanied by his 15-year-old son Nikolai, who has a vest, helmet, backpack and also has a machine gun in his hand. However, neither Lukashenko nor his son’s machine has a magazine. Walking to the castle, Lukashenko asks: “There is no one, if?” Someone replied to him, “He turned and went back.”
Another video has been distributed through official channels, showing Lukashenko flying over a helicopter over Minsk and asking pilots to fly closer to the avenue at Independence Palace. Lukashenko someone asks: “Where are they?” To this Lukashenko replies: “Escaped like rats. They learned that the answer will be hot.” On Saturday, Lukashenko said it would give the protesters two days to reflect, but then the authorities’ reaction to the protests would be strong.
The marchers stopped several tens of meters from the Omani chain and chanted slogans against the Lukashenko regime. Then they went back to Victory Square.
The march has not been sanctioned by the authorities and the militia has intensified in the center of Minsk. From the speakers located on the hotel Planet surrounding buildings, calls are dispersed, warning that otherwise force may be used.
Prior to that, the marchers gathered in Independence Square, where a moment of silence commemorated the protesters who lost their lives this month when the militia used force against the protesters.
People went to Independence Square in larger and smaller columns from the city districts. Many protesters from other parts of Belarus have also arrived in Minsk.
The Belarusian Ministry of Defense warned on Sunday that the army would protect the memorial sites of the Soviet side of the Second World War. Dozens of soldiers are stationed at the stall in Victory Square. The soldiers also besieged the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, opposite the hotel Planet, at which a rally is planned.
People are also holding protests in other Belarusian cities, including Baranovichi, Brest, Gomel, Grodno, Kobrin, Lida, Mogilev. Mozyr, Pinsk, Soligorsk, Vitebsk, Zhlobin.
This is the second mass march in Minsk, demanding the resignation of Lukashenko. Several hundred thousand people also took part in the first march last Sunday.
Protests against the falsification of the August 9 presidential election and authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who have often escalated into protesters’ clashes with security forces, remain unabated in Belarus. Thousands have been detained and several hundred injured in protests. Workers in many state-owned enterprises are on strike.
According to official results, Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, won 80.1% of the vote, while opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovska won 10.1%, but the opposition believes the election results are fake and Tikhanovska has won the election. European Union countries do not recognize election results.
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