THE situation in Belarus was worsening last night after it was confirmed that at least two and probably five people have been killed in protests against President Alexander Lukashenko’s claimed election victory.
Reports that Russian troops are already in the country which forms a large part of Russia’s western border have been dismissed by the Kremlin, but Lukashenko’s spokesperson Natalya Eismont confirmed on Russia’s Channel 1 state television that Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin have begun consultations to coordinate actions under the Union State and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) frameworks – a mutual defence pact between Belarus and Russia.
Putin is known to be angry at the scenes of protest in Belarus, and after forming his government yesterday, Lukashenko ordered his security forces to clear protestors off the streets. As The National went to press, demonstrators were gathering in the capital city Minsk and elsewhere, including at least one city, Grodno, where the local council has dissented from the central government line and released protestors with an apology.
Lukashenko continued yesterday to say that western nations were fomenting violence in his country, despite the fact that most citizens of Belarus see themselves as ethnic Russians and have no wish to join the European Union.
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Known as the last dictator of Europe, Lukashenko, 65, has been in power since 1994 and claimed to have won his sixth successive election with 80 per cent of the popular vote.
The European Union, the USA and the UK have all refused to accept the result. There are also many Russian detractors of Lukashenko who has sent troops to the western cities claiming that Nato tanks were “clanging” and troops were just “15 minutes” away.
Nato spokesperson Oana Lungescu claimed that its presence in Eastern Europe should not be misinterpreted. She said “There is no Nato build-up in the region. Nato’s multinational presence in the eastern part of the Alliance is not a threat to any country. It’s strictly defensive, proportionate and designed to prevent conflict and preserve peace.”
In a remarkable interview on supposedly pro-Moscow RT, retired senior Russian army officer Mikhail Kodarehnok said: “All the Nato forces are actually doing is carrying out their regular peacetime activities; there are no plans to invade Belarus any time soon. At this point, the only place where ‘tanks are clanging’ is the Belarusian leader’s head. And it begs the question of why the president is making up threats and ordering military exercises near the western border.”
Meanwhile, the death toll is growing by the day. The latest protestor to be confirmed as dead was Hennadiy Shutov from Brest near the border with Poland. The Belarus Health Ministry issued a statement: “It is reported with regret that on August 19, citizen of the Republic of Belarus Hennadiy Shutov died.”
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The Ministry said that on August 13 he was transferred in severe condition from Brest regional hospital to Defence Ministry hospital for treatment. On Tuesday his condition sharply deteriorated and doctors could not save his life. His family say he was shot in the head.
Another demonstrator was shot on August 10 in the capital Minsk. Alyaksandr Taraykouski, 34, was said by the authorities to be holding a bomb, but video footage suggests otherwise. Alyaksandr Vikhor, 25, died in Homel, his mother said police refused to help her injured son.
Artyom Parukau, 19, was struck by a car during a protest and died later, while the body of 29-year-old Kanstantsin Shyshmakou, who refused to sign the final report as a member of a local election commission in Vawkavysk, was found in Vawkavysk. It is not known how he died.
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