People attend an opposition demonstration to protest against police violence and to reject the presidential election results near the Government House in Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
Reuters: Protesters pack Belarus capital, Russia says military help available
MINSK/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarusians chanting “Step down!” filled the centre of the capital Minsk on Sunday in the biggest protest so far against what they said was the fraudulent re-election a week ago of longtime president Alexander Lukashenko.
Russia said it would offer Lukashenko military help if necessary, but there was no visible police presence at the protest, which attracted around 200,000 people, a Reuters reporter estimated. At least two protesters have died and thousands have been detained in a crackdown since the vote.
The atmosphere at the rallies, which wrapped up late into the evening, was celebratory on the whole, with people carrying the red and white flags used in Belarus after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union before Lukashenko restored the Soviet version four years later.
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Update: Russia offers military help to Belarus (The Hill)
WNU Editor: A Russian intervention in Belarus would be a huge mistake. I know there is no support in Russia to support Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. None. Zero. But President Putin is now entertaining that option .... The choices facing Putin in Belarus are all fraught with risk (Nick Paton Walsh, CNN). I can only hope that he stays out of this mess.
Update #2: There is no opportunity for the West in Belarus. This is a mess that they should also stay out .... Putin Doesn’t Want to Intervene in Belarus. That’s an Opportunity for the West (Anna Arutunyan, Moscow Times).
