On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus, in which, according to official data, the current head of state, Alexander Lukashenko, won. And soon after the closing of the polling stations, many people came out on the streets of the country's cities, which quickly turned into clashes with the security forces. The next night, everything happened again, and already today, strikes began at the country's enterprises.
The correspondent of "ElitExpert" understood what is happening in the northern neighbor and what to expect in the future.
Belorussky Maidan
The country was preparing for riots in advance: in the capital of the republic, Minsk, all key transport junctions were closed, and later the Internet was "cut down". True, the latter did not stop the opposition Telegram channels, which somehow managed to connect to the World Wide Web and published numerous videos. And there was something to publish.
Some time after the closing of the polling stations, tens of thousands of Belarusians began to gather in the center of Minsk. Riot police advanced to meet them, and dealt with the protesters quite harshly: stun grenades, water cannons, and batons were used. There was also a case when a special security vehicle flew into a crowd of people.
The following night, the protesters changed their tactics: instead of gathering at one point, they dispersed along the streets, which complicated the task of the security forces. Moreover, now the OMON riot police, which was forced to retreat in some cases, was now "in the nuts". The participants of the protest also started using Molotov cocktails.
One person died that night. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, he tried to throw something explosive at the security forces, but the object exploded in his hands.
And opposition telegram channels began to call people to go out on the streets and coordinate their actions.
How the fate of the country will be decided
Apparently, the next few days will be decisive not only for Lukashenko, but also for Belarus as a whole. On the one hand, the protesters have no clear leader: the presidential candidate and main opponent of Lukashenko, Svetlana Tykhanovskaya, has left the country. It is confirmed that the departure was organized by the Belarusian authorities. Moreover, on the morning of August 11, a video appeared on which the leader of the opposition reads the text from a letter, in which he asks citizens not to go to the rallies and accept Lukashenko's victory. The opposition immediately declared that Tykhanovskaya was forced to read this speech.
On the other hand, Western countries also consider the elections falsified, urge Lukashenko not to use force and threaten to apply sanctions. It is obvious that European countries and the USA are not betting on Lukashenko.
In addition, Telegram channels called on Belarusians not to go to work today and to join the strike. Some did so. This will be a serious test for "Batska", because strength alone cannot do here.
Night clashes are likely to continue. Also, a lot depends on whether the strike idea will work. One thing is obvious, that the protests are not going down, and a lot depends on how the current president of Belarus will proceed.
At the same time, they are not in a hurry to congratulate Alexander Lukashenko on his victory in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that not everyone believes in the results of the elections in Belarus and called on the Belarusian society and authorities to "dialogue and tolerance", noting that the escalation of the confrontation threatens the country with "bitter consequences". And in the Verkhovna Rada, people's deputies from "European Solidarity" have already registered a draft resolution on Ukraine's non-recognition of the results of the elections in Belarus.
