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Belarusian opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaya warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against military interference in Belarusian affairs.
Former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is concerned about the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin about the possible introduction of a reserve of security officials in Belarus. This was announced on August 31 by Interfax with reference to the Tikhanovskaya press service.
According to the opponent, the introduction of the Russian security forces would have serious consequences for relations between Belarus and Russia. He noted that the residents of Belarus are coming out to peacefully protest against the regime, which is trying to steal the election results and usurp power.
“We demand that all countries respect the sovereignty of Belarus,” Tikhanovskaya said.
On August 27, Putin said that Russia, at the request of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, had formed a reserve of security forces to assist the Belarusian authorities.
On August 31, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov stressed that a pool of Russian security officials would be sent to Belarus only in an emergency, if “extremist elements go into direct destabilization.”
Mass protests have been going on in Belarus since August 9. The protesters believe that the results of the presidential elections, which were held from August 4-9, were falsified. According to official data, Lukashenka won with 80.1% of the voters. Tikhanovskaya came in second with 10.1% of the vote. The rest of the candidates earned less than 2%. At the same time, alternative exit polls showed the opposite picture: Tikhanovskaya’s confident victory.
The Belarusian security forces violently dispersed the demonstrations, in particular with the use of stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons. During the protests, more than 7,000 protesters were arrested (many of them have already been released), hundreds were injured and wounded. According to official figures, four protesters died.
Mass protests took place in Minsk and other cities in Belarus on August 30. In the capital, protesters approached the Independence Palace to congratulate Lukashenka on his 66th birthday. The protesters brought “gifts” to the president, including a black coffin with crowns and a cardboard cockroach. In the morning, the security forces brought military equipment to the capital.
140 people were arrested in protests in Belarus on August 30. According to human rights activists, the detainees included minors and a Russian citizen.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, on behalf of the European Union, said on August 11 that the elections in Belarus “were neither free nor fair”, and that the authorities used “a disproportionate and unacceptable violence “against protesters.
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