Beleaguered Lukashenko seeks Putin’s help
MINSK: The opposition in Belarus kept up the pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko with a new demonstration in Minsk on Saturday, while the strongman sought the support of his main ally, Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Thousands of opposition supporters gathered near a metro station in the capital where a demonstrator died during this week’s police crackdown on protests against Lukashenko’s claim to have won re-election last Sunday.
With the opposition gaining momentum ater days of demonstrations, Lukashenko’s main election challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya had called on supporters to rally again over the weekend.
Demonstrators heaped flowers at the spot where Alexander Taraikovsky, 34, died on Monday. The crowd chanted “Thank you!” and raised victory signs while police kept a low profile.
Many held up photographs of protesters beaten during the crackdown while one man stood in his underwear revealing the purple bruises on his thighs, butocks and back.
Hundreds of mourners also atended the dead protester’s funeral, including poet and former opposition candidate for president Vladimir Neklyayev, who told reporters: “This cannot be forgiven.”
Facing the biggest challenge to his rule since taking power in 1994, Lukashenko called in Moscow’s help and spoke on the phone with Putin, ater warning there was “a threat not only to Belarus.”
The Kremlin said the leaders concluded the
“problems” in Belarus would be “resolved soon” and the countries’ ties strengthened.
While Lukashenko periodically plays Moscow off against the neighbouring EU, Russia is Belarus’s closest ally and the countries have formed a “union state” linking their economies and militaries.
Opposition protesters criticised Lukashenko for seeking Moscow’s aid and said they feared a Russian intervention.
“It’s obvious that our president can’t deal with his own people any more, he’s seeking help in the east,” said Alexei Linich, a 27-yearold programmer.
“If Russia intervenes, that would be the worst. I’m really afraid of this,” said Olga Nesteruk, a landscape designer.
Meeting military chiefs, Lukashenko ruled out foreign mediation between him and the protesters.