In Minsk, clashes broke out (video here) between protesters and police on Sunday evening after the elections at the intersection of Masherov and Pobediteley avenues. After the closure of most polling stations, 300 young people gathered, some of them were detained. A group of several dozen protesters tried to fight off the detainees, but retreated. An unauthorized rally is taking place near Victory Square in Minsk. Tough detentions began on Pobediteley Avenue in Minsk. Security officials jump out of the paddy wagons and detain people. Cries are heard: "Go away!", "Our home is Belarus!"
NEXTA reports that Stele now has several thousand people. There are clashes with riot police. Special services use flash-bang grenades.
According to Tut.by, the security forces dispersed the gathered people in the center of Mogilyov. According to the Belsat TV channel, the protesters were not allowed to gather at the stele on Pobediteley Avenue. There are reports of mass arrests, beaten and wounded demonstrators. Police reportedly blocked Victory Square in Vitebsk. People are allowed to cross it, but as soon as someone stops, the police immediately come up and ask to leave it.
As readers of Charter97.org report, thousands of Minsk residents gathered near the "Korona" on Kalvariyskaya. People are chanting: "The police are with the people!", "We believe, we can, we will win!", "One for all and all for one". They are supported by passing motorists.
An 18-minute audio recording has appeared on the network, where the "training" of vote counting is recorded. The members of the commission must arrange the ballots in piles and announce the necessary results for the protocol, which were distributed to them in advance. The members of the commission had to know the numbers by heart or spy on them in the "cheat sheet". The recording was made at polling station No. 48 in Gymnasium No. 39 in Minsk.
The headquarters of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya will not call people to active protests, RBC said. “The siloviki must see that we are completely peaceful, that the image of the militants against whom they were trained and incited does not exist,” the headquarters say. Opposition telegram channels called for gathering in city centers to discuss the election results.
This is unexpected, but I believed in it. The entire election campaign showed great support of the Belarusian people. A huge number of people went to rallies, this has never happened in our Belarus. There was an incredible number of observers, not everything worked out, but we tried our best. I would also like to thank the election commissions, which honestly believed that this was also a feat. Our people woke up. I am very glad that they have become actively involved in political life. People finally got over their fear. Many have yet to do this. Many thanks to everyone - headquarters, volunteers, everyone who was around. I believe that we have won because we have overcome our fear, we have overcome our political apathy, we have overcome apathy and indifference. These are victories that are more important than all other victories.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the center of Minsk, Telegram channel Nexta reports. Clashes take place at some points, people throw bottles at riot police and break through the cordons. In Minsk and Grodno, the police used tear gas against demonstrators, the Dozhd TV channel reports.
The Internet in the country works with great interruptions. The website of the state agency Belta, the portal TUT.by, Nasha Niva, Online, Belorussky Partizan are not working. Mediazona notes that Uber and Yandex.Taxi also stopped working in Minsk. Sputnik.by reports that riot police officers use smoke bombs against protesters. OMON and militia with shields are in a chain. As reported by Sputnik from Grodno, protesters took to the streets of the city. They are dispersed by law enforcement officers using asphyxiant gas. Participants in the action complain of difficulty breathing. In Vitsebsk, riot policemen blocked the streets and forced out protesters. The number of participants in the action in Vitebsk is decreasing.
The paddy wagon drove into the crowd in Minsk deliberately in the backs of the protesters, according to MBH media. One person is unconscious, covered in blood. Doctors are trying to revive him.
As Euroradio reports, in Pinsk, the protesters - about two thousand people - gathered near the city executive committee, expressing dissatisfaction with the election results. According to Euroradio, only 20 riot policemen opposed them, and the border guards came to their aid. The chairman of the city executive committee is negotiating with five protesters. According to eyewitnesses, riot police dropped their shields.
Three ambulances arrived at the stele in the center of Minsk , RIA Novosti reports. Police continue to disperse protesters with flashbang grenades. Detentions are underway.
In Baranovichi, a city with a population of 180 thousand people, about 10 thousand took to the streets. The protesters went to the riot police, the riot police began to run away. (video here)
In some cities, in Brest and Lida, riot police go over to the side of the people. Opposition politician Lyabedzka says that a historic event took place, which had been waiting for twenty years - the people came out against the regime. The politician thinks that more people will take to the streets tomorrow. Even in Minsk, where the main forces of the militia and security forces are concentrated, more and more people are going to the Stele. There are a lot of young people who were considered a lost generation. But it turned out that it was not.
Protesters in the center of Minsk began to build barricades from garbage cans. This was reported by the telegram channel NEXTA.
Representative of the "Honest People" initiative Vlad Stashkevich said that on the Golos platform, 80% voted for the presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
Belsat reports that a paddy wagon drove into a crowd in Minsk. The driver of the paddy wagon most likely wanted to scare people. One of the protesters jumped onto the bumper of the paddy wagon. He began to twist to the right and left. The man fell under the wheels and was almost crushed.
“An ambulance arrived, resuscitation. This is a man, a young guy, about 30, put on a stretcher, covered in blood. The head is broken. However, people do not disagree. Chanting "Assassins!" They also load the second victim into another car, he is about 50 years old”, -Belsat correspondents report.
In Minsk, the police began to disperse the protesters with water cannons. Also, the security forces use tear gas and stun grenades.
In the city of Zhodino, riot police lowered their shields in front of protesters.
The head of the Belarusian CEC Lidia Yermoshina made a surprising statement. Exceeding 100% is not a violation, since not only the lower, but also the upper turnout threshold is absent, Yermoshina said.
Police in the center of Minsk use special vehicles to disperse the crowd. Several people were injured, one of them seriously, according to a Sputnik correspondent from the scene. Ambulance 103 confirmed the presence of wounded. However, the ambulance refused to clarify the number of wounded and the nature of the injuries. Several people were taken to Minsk hospitals.
According to the Belarusian CEC, Alexander Lukashenko wins at all polling stations.
Ria Novosti reports that powerful explosions were heard at the intersection of Masherov Avenue and Storozhovskaya Street in Minsk.
The police pushed the protesters back across the bridge over the Svisloch River, RIA Novosti reported. The riot police moved with difficulty, the policemen were hampered by the large number of cars that had accumulated on the bridge due to the blocked traffic. Ahead of the line of policemen were two cars of water cannons, which from time to time poured water over the protesters. A passenger bus driver blocked the movement of one of the water cannons. Protesters and motorists greeted his actions with applause and honking. Now the crowd from the bridge moved along Masherov Avenue to other cities. At the same time, multiple explosions of flash-noise grenades are heard from the direction of Oktyabrskaya Square.
Nexta and Charter97 report that police started shooting at people in Minsk. It is not yet clear what kind of bullets we are talking about, rubber or real. Video is here.
In Berst, a column of protesters is walking down the street and chanting "Go away!"
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus said that false information was spread on the Internet. "Much of what is written on the Internet does not correspond to reality," said a spokeswoman for the department. It is not clear what is meant. The Internet works extremely poorly, most of the sites are inaccessible. Videos leaked on the Web show how the riot police are tough against the demonstrators. Video here
Telegram-channel Belarus golovnogo mozga published a video of a night protest march in Minsk near Romanovskaya Sloboda.
The press service of the Minsk Central Internal Affairs Directorate does not confirm information about those detained and wounded during the protest actions. The capital's police have denied the use of water cannons and stun grenades, Echo Moskvy reports. “It will be possible to speak about the number of detainees in the morning, now there is no such data. We have no information about the victims, there is no information about the use of water cannons and stun grenades”, -said a spokesman for the press service.
According to Nexta Live, there are at least 100 thousand people on the streets of Minsk.
According to the human rights organization Viasna, 55 people were arrested, although the chairman of Viasna, Ales Bialiatski, says that these data are incomplete. The Internet does not work, the telephone connection is bad. The human rights activist believes that the numbers will be terrifying. How the situation will develop further depends on Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and ordinary Belarusians. But most likely, there will be no negotiations with Alexander Lukashenko. He is incapable of any compromise, says Bialiatski.
According to Roman Portasevich, editor-in-chief of the telegram channel Nexta Live, there are about 50 wounded in Minsk, 10 of them seriously. One demonstrator has a torn chest from the impact of a flash-noise projectile, he is in intensive care.
The Belarusian security forces have cleared Storzhevskaya Street from the protesters, Sputnik.by reports. A large group of internal troops - about 20 trucks - landed on Storozhovskaya Street. The security forces headed towards the protesters. People are trying to avoid being detained and are fleeing to nearby parks.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya appealed to the military, police and protesters, RIA Novosti reports.
“I know that the Belarusians will wake up tomorrow in a new country and I hope that tomorrow there will be only good news. Please stop the violence. First of all, officers, I know that you can do it”, - she said.
The first victim of today's confrontation is a man who was hit by a flash-noise grenade, died of wounds, reports telegram-channel Belarus golovnogo mozga.
Tikhanovskaya's headquarters is barricaded - all windows and doors have been locked there, fear of detention, reports Sputnik.by.