These scenes follow Lukashenko’s long-controversial victory in last Sunday’s election, which has been criticized by independent observers for not being free and honest.
Although there was no official count, CNN crews in the Belarusian capital estimated that about 50,000 people attended the opposition protest from 3 o’clock local time.
Meanwhile, Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, gave a speech to government supporters a few blocks away.
The CNN team in Minsk estimated that less than 10,000 people were at the pro-government rally, far less than the 65,000 named by the Interior Ministry.
The team earlier saw people on Sunday by bus taken to the city center prior to demonstrations in support of Lukashenko.
Thousands of people were arrested last week in protest against the government, after opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya fled the country to Lithuania.
NATO says there is no build-up in the region
In a speech against his supporters on Sunday, Lukashenko claimed that Belarus was being threatened by foreign interference.
“There is a build-up of military power on the western borders of the country. Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine order us to hold new elections. If we listen to them, we will perish,” he said.
But a NATO spokeswoman, who includes Lithuania and Poland among her member states, told CNN in a statement that there was no NATO build-up in the region.
Oana Lungescu said NATO was closely monitoring the situation in Belarus and that Lukashenko’s government should respect “fundamental freedoms” such as the right to peaceful protest.
She added: “There is no NATO build – up in the region. NATO’s multinational presence in the eastern part of the Alliance is not a threat to any country. It is strictly defensive, proportionate, and intended. to prevent conflict and to maintain peace. “
Her remarks came when the Ministry of Defense of Belarus announced on Sunday that it would conduct combat training exercises between 17 and 20 August.
During the exercises, personnel would “work out the problems of strengthening sections of the State border,” the ministry statement said.
The drills are being held at Astravets in the Grodno region of northwestern Belarus, bordering Lithuania and Poland.
Support for Protestants
Earlier this week, some Belarussian security forces in Minsk rallied in Minsk, shaking hands with anti-government protesters.
Over the weekend, the Belarussian Ambassador to Slovakia also expressed solidarity with opposition protesters, saying he was shocked by reports that civilians had been beaten and tortured.
In a video posted Sunday by Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva, exactly one week after the country’s elections, Igor Leschenya said: “Like all Belarusians, I am shocked by the stories of torture and the slaughter of my citizens. “
The ambassador added that he had seen one of his daughter’s classmates in an online photo “of blood and bruises”, saying he “was absolutely never a compiler.”
Later in the video statement, he declared his solidarity with those who participated in peaceful protests, while calling for Belarus to have broader political representation in the future.
CNN could not reach the Belarussian embassy in Slovakia for comment.
CNN’s Sarah Dean, Claudia Otto, Fred Pleitgen, Arnaud Siad, Darya Tarasova and Isabel Tejera contributed to this report.
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