Lavrov accused “Ukrainian extremists” of interfering in protests in Belarus



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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there are allegedly 200 “extremists” from Ukraine in Belarus who are engaged in “provoking radical action in Minsk and other cities.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that “the destabilization of the situation in Belarus” is controlled from the territory of Ukraine. He announced it during a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei on August 2, notes RIA-Novosti.

According to the Russian minister, the representatives of the organizations “Stepan Bandera’s Trident”, “C14”, “National Corps” and “Right Sector” are allegedly involved in interference in the processes in Belarus. He is sure that these structures “are actively engaged in provoking radical actions in Minsk and other cities of Belarus.”

Lavrov also said that in Ukraine there are supposedly camps “for the training of such extremists”, and they are located, in particular, in the Volyn and Dnepropetrovsk regions. In total, according to the minister, there are now about 200 members of these “groups” in Belarus.

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, the current president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, won with 80.1% of the voters. Opposition candidate Svetlana 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.

173 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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