Hundred-thousand-strong crowd on Independence Square and Lukashenko and his youngest son appear in bulletproof vests with assault rifles
24 August 2020, 00:07 | TUT.BY
On the morning of August 23, it seemed that Belarus’ protest mood had begun to fade and that the demonstration like the one a week ago near the Minsk Hero City Obelisk wouldn’t be repeated. But the fifteenth day of the protests was a surprise.
- First, despite blocked access routes, a huge crowd under white-red-white flags gathered on Independence Square. With almost no decrease in numbers, it reached the intersection of Masherova and Victors Avenues.
- Second, some people moved further ahead, reaching Independence Palace, where Alexander Lukashenko was at that moment.
- Third, the president and his youngest son appeared on the residence grounds wearing bulletproof vests and carrying assault rifles (without magazines).
- Fourth, no provocations took place, and there were no reports of arrests during the protest.
Now to discuss things in order.
The protests that started in Belarus on August 9 after voting in the presidential election have continued non-stop for two weeks now. They are less numerous on weekdays, but thousands-strong protests have taken place in Minsk for the second Sunday in a row.
If over 200,000 people gathered in Minsk near the obelisk on Victors Avenue on August 16, the square near the monument was blocked off today with barbed wire and a metal fence. An hour before the planned protest, Victor Khrenin, the Defense Minister of Belarus, made a strange address recorded with the same Minsk Hero City Obelisk in the background:
“We can’t stand idly by while demonstrations are organized at these sacred places under the same flags that saw the Nazis orchestrate the mass murder of Belarusians, Russians, Jews, and other ethnicities. We can’t allow that! So, starting today, we are taking them under our guard and protection,” he continued, his voice rising. “If the peace and order at these places are disrupted, you’ll have to deal with the army, not the police.”
Indeed, a large contingent of armed military personnel was present there.
Military vehicles and buses, now a common sight in Minsk’s streets, had already been spotted in the city in the morning. An especially large number of them were near Independence Square and close to the obelisk on Victors Avenue. Traffic police selectively checked documents of people entering the capital and asked about the purpose of their visit. The roads to Independence Avenue were blocked off, as was the avenue itself from Independence Square to Kozlova Street. Subway trains didn’t stop at Lenin Square, Oktyabrskaya, Kupalovskaya, and Victory Square stations, while Stolitsa and Galereya shopping malls were closed.
On the way to Independence Square
After 1:30 PM, people with the protest movement’s white-red-white flags (as well as official red-green ones) and placards started gathering on Independence Square. They came in columns from various neighborhoods in Minsk: from Novaya Borovaya and Grushevka, Pushkinskaya and Avtozavodskaya subway stations, Chelyuskintsev Park, and other places. The weather didn’t work in favor of the protests. While demonstrators were periodically rained on, it didn’t deter people from coming.
Source: Olga Shukaylo, TUT.BY
Around 3 PM, there were already tens of thousands of protesters on Independence Square, and people kept coming. There was not enough room anymore, and demonstrators moved to Independence Avenue’s roadway.
Around 3:30 PM, there were at least a hundred thousand people on the square, despite the approaches from Moskovskaya, Sovetskaya, and Myasnikova Streets being blocked.
The loudspeakers above the square played an old Soviet song. From time to time, they broadcast announcements from authorities that the event was unsanctioned as well as requests to disperse. They called upon people to desist from provocations and avoid force being used against them. The protesters responded by whistling.
Independence Square, the Minsk Hero City Obelisk
After 4 PM, the crowd moved from Independence Square towards Victors Avenue. The destination was declared to be the hill near Planeta Hotel, which was opposite the obelisk fortified with barbed wire and guarded by soldiers.
Closer to 5 PM, the head of the column on Victors Square approached the obelisk. The protesters and law enforcement stood opposite one another, separated by 30 meters of space, fences, and barbed wire.
Maria Kolesnikova and Olga Kovalkova, members of the opposition’s Coordination Council, asked protesters to stand back from the fence and avoid provoking law enforcement. The demonstrators did so. Kovalkova also addressed law enforcement, asking them to refrain from using force. She also thanked them for protecting people.
Pavel Latushko, a member of the Coordination Council’s leadership team, addressed the gathering.
“We are not the opposition, we are the majority,” he said and told the people that the Council has agreed on the following next steps:
- Start recalling all members of the House of Representatives who haven’t stated their opinion and position regarding the situation
- Initiate the recall procedure for all local council deputies
- Initiate the nationwide referendum on bringing back the 1994 version of the Constitution, which limits presidential terms.
Latushko has explained that he doesn’t want a return to the 1994 economy, just the Constitution that ensures the turnover of power.
“Right now, the fired director has locked himself in his office and doesn’t want to leave, but we have enough patience to wait at his door. We demand that one man is replaced. The regime is trying to say that the protest is fading away. Our resistance is a marathon. We will make it,” Maria Kolesnikova stated.
People were standing on the hill near the “Planeta” hotel, along the Victors Avenue – on the road and sidewalks, chanting “Go away!”, “Put Lukashenko in the police truck!”, “Long live Belarus!” There were lots of families with children. Many people have put blankets on the grass and sat on them.
Minsk Hero City Obelisk, Independence Palace
By 6 PM, some protesters had gone away. The rest moved further along Victors Avenue to State Flag Square. People in the column periodically shouted: “Residence!” But the road in front of Independence Palace was blocked by law enforcement and vehicles.
That is where OMON riot police with shields, soldiers from the 3214th detachment, and police officers were located. They were armed with GM-94 grenade launchers (they were used to shoot flashbangs during the suppression of demonstrations), Rubezh fence-placing vehicles, and water cannon vehicles with raised bulldozers blades, and several pump-action shotguns. On the shields of the Rubezh, about 2 meters above ground, several people filmed the crowd.
At some point, the distance between the protesters and the cordon was as dangerously little as 50 meters. The demonstrators shouted, “Shame!” while the vehicles were turned on.
Then, musicians stood between the protesters and law enforcement and played the popular song Tri Charapakhi (Three Turtles), everyone was singing along. The demonstrators then turned back towards the obelisk.
The president’s spokeswoman Natalia Eismont later commented on this scene that “the so-called protesters attempted, one can say, sort of an assault on the building.”
Helicopter. The president and his son in bulletproof vests and with assault rifles
Something truly surprising happened next. A helicopter landed near Independence Palace.
It turned out that Alexander Lukashenko was on board. He was carrying an assault rifle as he stepped down the ramp. He was also wearing a bulletproof vest. But this wasn’t the most surprising thing. The recordings distributed by the Pool of the First Telegram channel [an official channel of the Belarusian President] show another person in military fatigues and a bulletproof vest carrying an assault rifle. It was the president’s 15-year old son, Nikolay. Eismont later confirmed this information.
The president and his son flew around the city center in the helicopter before Lukashenko went outside the barriers near Independence Palace and thanked law enforcement for being positioned on the perimeter.
“You’re amazing! We will deal with them,” he said.
“We’re with you until the end,” they replied.
Protests took place beyond the capital, as well. See how it happened in Vitebsk, Homiel, Hrodna, Brest, and Mogilev.
No one was arrested during the Sunday opposition rallies in Minsk and other cities, according to Ministry of Internal Affairs spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova.
“At the moment, there are no reports of arrests during the unsanctioned opposition rallies in Minsk and other Belarusian cities,” Chemodanova told Sputnik.
In addition, on August 23, numerous rallies in support of the Belarusian protesters happened in many cities of the world. People formed human chains with white-red-white flags. In Lithuania, the chain spread from Vilnius to the Belarusian border, and Belarus supporters included President Gitanas Nauseda, Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius, and former Presidents Dalia Gribauskaite and Valdas Adamkus. Chains were also formed in Riga, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Kyiv, and Moscow (11 people were arrested near the Belarusian Embassy there).
