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The concentration of the opposition came amid intensive repression by the authorities.
Tens of thousands of people have gathered in Belarus for a demonstration of the president’s electoral rival, despite the intensification of repression against the opposition.
More than 60,000 people demonstrated in the capital Minsk, according to a human rights group, Viasna.
The demonstration was organized by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who is opposed to the president in the long term.
Alexander Lukashenko has faced a wave of protests over his bid for a sixth term.
Lukashenko has exercised authoritarian control over Belarus in a style reminiscent of the Soviet era since he took office in 1994.
- Belarus’ ban on electoral challengers sparks protests
Ms. Tikhanovskaya, a political rookie, decided to stand for election after her husband was barred from running and imprisoned earlier this year.
Its supporters gathered in a square in Minsk for what the AFP news agency said was the largest opposition protest in the former Soviet country in a decade.
They waved flags and balloons printed with opposition slogans.
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Svetlana Tikhanovskaya opposes the country’s long-term president.
“People who want a decent life are not criminals,” Tikhanovskaya told the crowd. “They are our people, people who want a peaceful change of power.”
“Please don’t go against your consciences, don’t go against your people,” he added.
State authorities previously accused Ms. Tikhanovskaya’s husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, of collaborating with Russian mercenaries to stoke the unrest before the elections. The popular opposition blogger also faces other charges.
Ms Tikhanovskaya denied the allegations, which occurred during an intensive crackdown on opposition activity.
Earlier Thursday, authorities arrested 33 suspected mercenaries whom they accused of planning “terrorism”. Russia said it was seeking clarification on the arrests and denied the knowledge of the Wagner paramilitary group that Belarus suspects is involved.
Belarus Security Council Secretary Andrey Rawkow said investigators suspected that as many as 200 Russian mercenaries had entered the country to “destabilize the situation during the election campaign.”
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Rawkow said 14 of the detained Russians had fought in the Donbas conflict in Ukraine, and described their presence in Belarus as “a very unpleasant situation.”
Reports by UN investigators, the US military and journalists have documented the Wagner group’s operations in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, Sudan and the Central African Republic. The Russian government denies any ties to the group.
Belarusian state news agency Belta named the 33 Russian suspects and gave their birth dates.
Read more about the Wagner group:
The Belarusian state television channel 1 showed the Russians arrested by the Belarusian KGB in a sanitarium. The video report (in Russian) said the group had raised suspicions because of their disciplined and military-style behavior, for example, avoiding alcohol.
Video footage of the group’s arrest showed they had Sudanese currency and a Sudanese phone card with them. The Wagner group is known to be active in Sudan, and it is speculated that it was using Belarus as a transit country for African operations.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday: “We know that 33 Russians were arrested yesterday in Belarus. Two hundred are still at large. We do not know of any illegal activity that could be grounds for arrest.”
He also said that “there was no such concept” as “Wagner PMC” in Russia.
