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The rally took place after Belarusian authorities accused key opposition figures of collaborating with Russian militants to destabilize the country.
Political rookies, non-working supporters of S. Tichanovskaya, mother of two, flooded Minsk Square during perhaps the largest opposition demonstration in Belarus in a decade.
ZUMAPRESS photo / Thousands gather for a rally in Minsk to support the opposition candidate (updated)
An AFP journalist reported that a large crowd of people were waving flags and holding balloons with symbols of the opposition election campaign, a victory sign, a clenched fist and a heart.
“Changes!”: An inscription on one of the posters.
The human rights organization Viasna reported that at least 63,000 people had gathered at the demonstration. persons.
Earlier Thursday, Belarusian investigators accused Tikhaniovskaya’s husband, blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, and another government critic Nikolai Statkevich of planning to organize massive riots with Russian mercenaries ahead of the August 9 presidential elections.
Both S. Tikhaniovskis and N. Statkevičius were imprisoned in the run-up to the elections.
The accusations by opposition leaders cooperating with Russian mercenaries are the latest unexpected turn in Belarus’s presidential election campaign, in which Lukashenko, 65, who has been in power for almost three decades, seeks to secure a sixth term. like the country’s growing anger at his government.
Belarus security services said on Wednesday they had arrested 33 Russian “fighters” who had arrived on a mission to destabilize the country.
The Kremlin has dismissed such allegations as “innuendo”.
According to Minsk, the detainees belong to the Russian private military company Wagner, a secret organization allegedly controlled by one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s allies and used to defend Moscow’s interests in Ukraine, Syria and Libya.
Addressing her supporters at the demonstration, Tikhanyovskaya, 37, said the government was destroying the lives of not only her husband but all political prisoners.
“The situation with those fighters is very frightening,” he said as the crowd chanted “Freedom.”
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