In Belarus, both Lukashenko, opposition protesters hold fast
MOSCOW — Viewers of a news show on Belarusian state TV got an unpleasant surprise recently when a disparaging report about protests sweeping their Eastern European nation got the country’s name wrong. It referred to Belarus as Belorussia, a Soviet- era designation that was dropped nearly three decades ago but is still widely used in Russia.
The blunder followed a flood of Russian journalists into Belarusian state media to fill posts left vacant by locals who have quit in droves in solidarity with protesters. The slip highlighted what is now perhaps the biggest obstacle confronting opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko: They are no longer struggling against just their own president but also the Kremlin.
After more than a month
of protests, there is still noclear endgame in sight for either side, with Mr. Lukashenko and his foes both insisting they can prevail but neither offering a clear and plausible path to victory — other than continued peaceful defiance by protesters and relentless repression by the government.
A day before high- stakes talks in Russia, Mr. Lukashenko deployed his security forces in large numbers Sunday to deter ongoing protests. But tens of thousands of people still took to the streets to once again clamor for his resignation.
Despite a huge show of force by riot police officers, masked men and apparent soldiers, crowds of protesters gathered in Minsk, the capital, and in several other cities, many of them waving the former national flag — a red and white banner that Mr. Lukashenko scrapped for a Soviet- esque standard soon after coming to power in 1994.
The Belarusian authorities, in an effort to stop protesters from coordinating movements, also ordered telephone operators to cut mobile internet services, a tactic used during an early round of protests over the disputed presidential election on Aug. 9.
The carnival atmosphere of previous Sunday protests was replaced by tension and fear as police officers revived some of the heavyhanded violence seen when people first took to the streets after the election, which Mr. Lukashenko claimed to have won by a landslide. More than 400 were arrested, the police said. Witnesses said many were beaten at the time of detention.
As happened in August, the aggressive response by security forces has only further intensified the anger at Mr. Lukashenko, who will travel to Sochi, Russia, Monday to meet President Vladimir Putin, his main backer.