Witnesses: In Minsk, several people were beaten during OMON clashes with protesters

According to them, officials armed with rubber sticks prevented locals from forming a column on Chabatarovo Street. The protesters were to march into the center of Minsk to participate in an opposition rally.

Law enforcement officers surrounded people and began to make arrests. The people resisted and released some of their own.

Several people were injured in the clashes.

The Interior Ministry said about 10 people were detained during protests in Minsk on Sunday. The Viasna law enforcement center announced that 37 protesters had been arrested in Minsk.

Protests are also taking place in other regions; detained in Grodno, where the portal tut.by. According to the data, there were several “brutal clashes with OMON, at some point someone sprayed tear gas”.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in the center of Minsk for the protest, reported a correspondent for the AFP news agency.

A column of protesters headed towards President Aliaksandr Lukashenko’s residence, the Palace of Independence on State Flag Square, witnesses told Interfax.

The residence is surrounded by security forces, stationed “Rubež” missile complexes, armored vehicles.

An Interfax correspondent from Minsk also reported internet outages in various parts of the city.

Mobile phone provider A1 confirmed that the data transfer rate was lowered at the request of officials.

The armored vehicles are being transported to the center of Minsk ahead of the anti-government rally

Belarusian security forces are stepping up security measures in central Minsk, where the opposition is planning a massive anti-government protest on Sunday, and armored vehicles are being brought into the city, witnesses said.

According to the correspondent for the Interfax news agency, the Plaza Independencia, where the activists intend to gather, has been surrounded by militiamen since the early hours of the morning. The square is also surrounded by metal barriers, next to which the officers’ guards are on duty. The underground passages in the square are closed.

Security forces also guard the entrances to the surrounding courtyards. Special transport stops in the adjacent streets.

At the time, October Square was surrounded by a cordon of armed soldiers wearing bulletproof vests. Around the plaza, people in camouflage uniforms hung barbed wire.

Dozens of buses with OMON officers are parked on the streets near the squares, where more law enforcement officers are being removed.

Several metro stations in the city center have been closed and the trains do not stop there.

There are about 10 security forces vehicles in the area of ​​the Presidential Administration building. Five law enforcement buses are parked near the Officers’ House. Special vehicles, including water cannons, are also parked on Lenin Street.

In addition, the army surrounds the post “Minsk – the hero of the city” and the Museum of the Great Patriotic War.

According to witnesses, armored vehicles are being brought to Minsk.

Armored personnel carriers accompanied by columns of military trucks were sighted on the outskirts of the city. They moved towards the center of the city.

There was mobile internet disruption in Minsk

Customers of Belarusian mobile operators report that there are obstacles when trying to connect to the mobile Internet in the country’s capital. This is announced by the news portal Tut.by.

Consumers noted that the interference in various parts of Minsk occurred around 2.30pm local time, that is, as soon as Sunday’s protest started. Some of the population reports that they encountered mobile internet interference a little later, at approximately 2:45 p.m. The Tut.by editorial board was convinced that in the city center, along the circus building and Gorky Park, the mobile Internet really does not work without interruptions.

Subscribers complain that websites do not open at all or that they take a few minutes, much longer than usual. Similar interference occurs with the use of chat gadgets: not everyone can resume conversations or, for example, view attachments.

In a comment sent to journalists, the Belarusian telecommunications company A1 states that “according to an order of the state authorities, on September 6, the mobile data bandwidth has been significantly reduced in the Minsk region”.

A record protest is expected in Belarus on Sunday

As the government crackdown intensifies, major protests were scheduled in Belarus on Sunday, demanding the resignation of presumed President Alexander Lukashenko. The BBC reports on this.

On Saturday, during the fourth week of protests, security agents arrested dozens of protesters, mostly students, in the country’s capital, Minsk. At the time, thousands of Belarusians chanted “away from their children” in a separate women’s march.

It was also reported on Saturday that Volha Kovalkova, one of the main opposition figures in Belarus, was forced to leave Poland due to threats from the government.

BBC Minsk correspondent Jonah Fisher predicts that protests in the capital on Sunday could be the largest since they began 4 weeks ago.

According to a BBC correspondent, the riot police have stepped up their efforts to intimidate participants and prevent them from reaching the center of Minsk.

In the run-up to the planned protest in Minsk, the security forces are showing strength

In the run-up to another demonstration in the Belarusian capital on Sunday, participants intend to protest the results of last month’s presidential elections, according to which Alexander Lukashenko allegedly became president again, police and forces of security are showing their strength.

According to local press reports, some streets in Minsk have been closed and armored vehicles have been lined up. According to the news portal Tut.by, some Minsk metro stations have been closed “to ensure the safety of passengers.”

Representatives of the Belarusian Interior Ministry have warned that they intend to send even more officials to the streets of the capital.

The ministry also warned residents not to attend the afternoon rally, which, despite the threats, is expected to gather thousands of Belarusians.

Several dozen protesters, including students and journalists covering the events, were arrested in the country this week.

According to the AFP news agency, on Saturday, when about 4 thousand people took to the streets of Belarus. population, more than 90 people were arrested, according to official figures.

Former Belarusian opposition candidate for the presidency, political novice Sviatlana Cichanouskaya, called on protesters to gather on Sunday for a planned “March of Unity”.

“Remember that we will only be strong if we are united,” Cichanouskaya said in a short video message.

Cichanouskaya: protesters have no turning back

Belarus’ opposition candidate for the presidency, Sviatlana Cichanouskaya, says her country is experiencing a “deep political crisis” because the government of presumed President Aliaksandr Lukashenko “does not listen to its compatriots,” according to Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

“Belarusians have changed, they have woken up,” Cichanouskaya said in a webcast on Saturday. According to her, the people of Belarus want change and “the current government no longer believes.” She says the protesters have reached a tipping point after which there is no turning back, and it is now “impossible to force people to withdraw.”

When asked about his plans to take over as head of state, Cichanouskaya said that he would release political prisoners immediately and hold “new, fair and transparent presidential elections”, emphasizing that he would not be running for office again.

At that time, two separate protest rallies were held in Minsk on Saturday, organized by groups of students and women from the Minsk State University of Linguistics. It is estimated that up to 10,000 women could participate in the protest. the citizens.

According to reports from some agencies, up to 30 protesters dragged masked officials from the streets into their cars on Saturday. Some of the detainees are reported to have been released a few hours later.

Furthermore, on Saturday, Polish representatives confirmed that S. Cichanouskaya, who is currently in Lithuania, was there on September 9. She will visit Warsaw and meet Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

It was also reported that S. Cichanouskaya’s main representative in Belarus, Volha Kovalkova, crossed the Polish border on Saturday. According to her, the Belarusian authorities forced her to leave her homeland. August 10 Kovalkov was sentenced to 10 days in prison.