Tensions high in Belarus as troops gather at protester meeting site

Tens of thousands of Belarusians have rallied again to demand the resignation of president Alexander Lukashenko, defying warnings from the autocratic leader and from security forces that brutally dispersed earlier protests.

Mr Lukashenko has refused to bow to the biggest demonstrations of his 26-year rule and insists that he won fairly an August 9th election with an implausible 80 per cent of votes, while also defending a subsequent police crackdown in which at least two protesters died, hundreds were hurt and about 7,000 detained.

More than 100,000 Belarusians flooded the centre of their capital, Minsk, on Sunday, and smaller crowds marched in other cities and towns, with many waving red-and-white flags and placards mocking Mr Lukashenko and denouncing police violence.

Despite the protesters’ peaceful conduct, Mr Lukashenko has accused his opponents of plotting to plunge the country into violent chaos, with the help of western nations including the United States and two of Belarus’s neighbours, Poland and Lithuania.

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Tension increased in Minsk on Sunday, when troops took up position around a second World War memorial where protesters have previously gathered, and Belarusian defence minister Viktor Khrenin said the military would guard that site and similar monuments against demonstrators whom he accused of showing fascist sympathies.

“I warn you categorically, if there is a violation of order and calm in these places, you will have to deal not with the police but with the army,” he said.

Minsk police chief Ivan Kubrakov, meanwhile, urged people not to attend protests “aimed at destabilising the situation and bringing discord to society”.

“Be sensible and restrained, stop your children from rash actions,” he warned. “Youthful maximalism and rebellious behaviour in this case are inappropriate and dangerous.”

Quelling protests

An opposition “co-ordination council” wants to start dialogue with Mr Lukashenko’s regime and oversee a peaceful transfer of power, but on Friday the former Soviet state farm boss pledged to quell the protest movement – which has been bolstered by strike action at major factories – “in the coming days”.

“If a factory is not working then let’s put a lock on its gate from Monday,” Mr Lukashenko said during a visit to the western city of Grodno on Saturday. “People will calm down and we’ll decide whom to invite [to work] next.”

“Let them think things over on Saturday and Sunday. From Monday I hope they won’t be upset. The authorities should [act like] the authorities.”

After dozens of independent news and political websites were blocked in Belarus on Friday, Mr Lukashenko said the media "part of the hybrid war that is being conducted against Belarus."

Mr Lukashenko put his military on combat alert in the Grodno region, and said Nato forces were “seriously stirring” in nearby Poland and Lithuania – both of which deny any hostile intent towards Belarus.

Russia has pledged to defend Belarus against any external threat under their “union state” agreement, and has warned the West not to meddle in the country.

Fled to Lithuania

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday accused unnamed Belarusian opposition figures of “wanting blood” during the protests, “to provoke a reaction from the Belarusian security forces”.

The EU has rejected the election results and denounced police violence in Belarus, while calling for national dialogue – without Russian interference – to resolve the crisis.

"Belarusian people have changed during this year," said opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claims to be the rightful winner of the election, in Lithuania, where she fled after allegedly being threatened by Mr Lukashenko's regime.

“The Belarusian people won’t be able to accept him as the new president,” she said. “I’m sure that sooner or later he will have to leave.”